Cross-talk free and ultra-compact fiber optic sensor for simultaneous measurement of temperature and refractive index.

We propose and demonstrate a cross-talk free simultaneous measurement system for temperature and external refractive index (ERI) implemented by dual-cavity Fabry-Perot (FP) fiber interferometer. The sensing probe consists of two cascaded FP cavities formed with a short piece of multimode fiber (MMF) and a micro-air-gap made of hollow core fiber (HOF). The fabricated sensor head was ultra-compact; the total length of the sensing part was less than 600 mum.

Miniature fiber-optic high temperature sensor based on a hybrid structured Fabry-Perot interferometer.

A miniature Fabry-Perot (FP) interferometric fiber-optic sensor suitable for high-temperature sensing is proposed and demonstrated. The sensor head consists of two FP cavities formed by fusion splicing a short hollow-core fiber and a piece of single-mode fiber at a photonic crystal fiber in series. The reflection spectra of an implemented sensor are measured at several temperatures and analyzed in the spatial frequency domain.

Residual stress relaxation in the core of optical fiber by CO(2) laser irradiation.

We observed residual stress relaxation by CO(2) laser irradiation in the cores of optical fibers by direct stress measurement. It was demonstrated that the mechanical stress was fully relaxed by CO(2) laser irradiation and that the remaining stress in the core was thermal stress that was due to a mismatch of the thermal expansion coefficients of the fiber core and cladding. The net core stresses after relaxation were 17, 68, and 203 MPa in Ge-B-codoped fibers drawn at 0.

Diffraction-limited dark laser spot produced by a hollow optical fiber.

By using the diffracted field of the LP(11) mode of a hollow-core optical fiber, we have produced a micrometer-sized, focused dark laser spot in the near field of the fiber. The minimum half-width of the dark spot is less than 1 mum . In particular, by masking the hollow core and metal coating the cladding with a microsphere, we blocked the light propagating in the cladding and obtained a clean dark spot, which may be useful in atom-optical experiments such as with atomic lenses, atom traps, and atom switches.

Measurement of refractive-index variation with temperature by use of long-period fiber gratings.

The thermo-optic coefficient of the core material of a fiber is analyzed by use of a pair of long-period fiber gratings. First the effective index difference between the core and the cladding modes is measured from the peaks of the interference fringe generated by the grating pair. The order of the cladding mode is decided by the cutoff wavelength and the numerical aperture of the fiber.

Determination of stress-induced intrinsic birefringence in a single-mode fiber by measurement of the two-dimensional stress profile.

The two-dimensional (2-D) axial stress profile of a single-mode fiber is obtained with an optical tomographic measurement technique. All stress components of the fiber are calculated from a measured axial stress profile. We demonstrate that the differential group delay induced by intrinsic nonsymmetric stress as well as the induced linear birefringence between two orthogonal polarization modes can be determined with an analytic technique based on a vector perturbation method from a measured asymmetric 2-D stress distribution.

Complete determination of the stress tensor of a polarization-maintaining fiber by photoelastic tomography.

The use of photoelastic tomography to obtain the two-dimensional axial stress profile of a polarization-maintaining (PM) fiber with high resolution and accuracy is described. We illustrate, for what is believed to be the first time, the two-dimensional distribution of the local principal axes of the fiber's cross section, which is directly related to the fiber's PM ability. We demonstrate that the stress-induced anisotropy as well as all the stress tensor components of the fiber can be fully determined.

Spectral polarization-dependent loss of cascaded long-period fiber gratings.

We have measured the spectral polarization-dependent losses of cascaded long-period fiber gratings composed of single, double, and triple identical gratings and fabricated by exposure of a UV laser beam on one side of a fiber. The measurement was made by use of the Mueller matrix method for scanning the wavelength of the incident beam. The polarization-dependent loss was dramatically increased as the number of cascaded gratings was increased.

Photonic crystal fiber coupler.

Fiber couplers made with photonic crystal fibers (PCF) are reported. Two types of PCF were fabricated by means of stacking a group of silica tubes around a silica rod and drawing them. The fiber couplers were made by use of the fused biconical tapered method.

Observation and analysis of residual stress development resulting from OH impurity in optical fibers.

We report experimental results on the development of residual stress due to OH impurity in optical fibers. The effect of OH impurity on residual stress is demonstrated by direct residual stress measurement. The residual stress at the outer-cladding/jacketing-tube boundary of the fiber drawn at 3.

Resonant optical nonlinearity measurement of Yb(3+) / Al(3+) codoped optical fibers by use of a long-period fiber grating pair.

A new method of measuring optical nonlinearity for resonant nonlinear optical fibers is proposed. A long-period fiber grating (LPG) pair was used to measure the nonlinear refractive index n(2) of a Yb(3+)/Al (3+) codoped optical fiber, which was spliced between the two LPGs, as the fiber was pumped with a laser diode. The nonlinear refractive index of the Yb(3+)/Al (3+) codoped fiber near 1580 nm depended on the pump power.

All fiber polarimetric modulation using an electro-optic fiber with internal Pb-Sn electrodes.

All fiber electro-optic modulation using a polarimetric cell based on an electro-optic fiber with internal Pb-Sn electrodes was demonstrated. For the polarimetric cell, the electro-optic fiber with two 149 cm long internal electrodes was fabricated by injection of a molten Pb-Sn alloy into the holes of the fiber. The characteristics of the modulation were explained by the electric field induced phase retardation due to the polarization dependent electro-optic Kerr effect.

Versatile control of geometric birefringence in elliptical hollow optical fiber.

A novel optical fiber fabrication technique was developed by converting the symmetry of the silica substrate into the germanosilicate ring core to efficiently introduce geometric birefringence in an elliptical hollow optical fiber. Due to high ellipticity in the hollow ring core, the fiber provides an extremely high group birefringence of 2.35 x 10(-3) at 1550 nm.

Impact of interstitial air holes on a wide-bandwidth rejection filter made from a photonic crystal fiber.

We have investigated the spectral properties of a band rejection filter made with a long-period fiber grating written in photonic crystal fiber that has interstitial air holes. Experiments showed that only one mode was coupled strongly to the fundamental core mode over a 600 nm spectral range. The central wavelength of the filter could be tuned over that range without being appreciably affected by any other mode.

Lensed photonic crystal fiber obtained by use of an arc discharge.

A lensed photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is proposed as an effective element for an optical free-space interconnector. By simultaneously forming a beam-expansion region and a focusing lens on a single piece of PCF, effective coupling between PCFs could be achieved. A long working distance of up to 1 mm with wide longitudinal and lateral tolerances was measured.

New defect design in index guiding holey fiber for uniform birefringence and negative flat dispersion over a wide spectral range.

A novel silica index guiding holey fiber (IGHF) design is proposed utilizing a new defect structure that is composed of an elliptic high index ring structure and an elliptic air-hole at the center with triangular lattice structure. The proposed IGHF showed unique modal properties such as uniform and high birefringence over a wide spectral range and single polarization single mode (SPSM) guidance along with a flat negative chromatic dispersion. Optical waveguide properties were numerically analyzed using the plane wave expansion method in terms of mode intensity distribution, modal birefringence, chromatic dispersion for the new defect structural parameters.

Multi-wavelength linear-cavity tunable fiber laser using a chirped fiber Bragg grating and a few-mode fiber Bragg grating.

A novel and simple multi-wavelength linear-cavity tunable fiber laser source using a chirped fiber Bragg grating (CFBG) and a few-mode fiber Bragg grating (FMFG) is demonstrated using erbium-doped fiber (EDF) as the gain medium. In our linear-cavity configuration, the FMFG acts as full-reflecting mirror and wavelength selector while the CFBG with the 3-dB bandwidth of over 30 nm acts as a broadband partially reflecting mirror. The number of lasing wavelengths can be controlled by changing the state of polarization inside the cavity using a polarization controller.

Polarization controlled multi-wavelength Er-doped fiber laser using fiber Bragg grating written in few-mode side-hole fiber with an elliptical core.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel method for multi-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser by using fiber Bragg gratings written in few-mode side-hole fiber with an elliptical core. The resonance peaks can be made to split by properly adjusting the polarization state due to the high birefringence of the fiber with the elliptical core. The number of lasing wavelengths can thus be switched using the polarization controller.

All-optical 2 x 2 switching with two independent Yb3+ -doped nonlinear optical fibers with a long-period fiber grating pair.

We have demonstrated a new type of all-optical 2 x 2 switch by using two independent Yb3+ -doped nonlinear optical fibers with a long-period fiber grating pair and a 3-dB fiber coupler. A 400-Hz square-wave pulse train at approximately 1549.4 nm was fully switched between the two output ports up to 200 Hz by modulated pump signals at 976 nm with a maximum pump power of approximately 35 mW, where the extinction ratio at approximately 1549.

Multi-wavelength lasing oscillations in an erbium-doped fiber laser using few-mode fiber Bragg grating.

We propose a simple erbium-doped fiber laser configuration for obtaining multi-wavelength oscillation at room temperature, in which a few-mode fiber Bragg grating was used as the wavelength-selective component. An amplitude variation of 1.6 dB over 120 second period was obtained for three-wavelength oscillation at room temperature, which demonstrates stability of the output power.

Fabrication of helical long-period fiber gratings by use of a CO2 laser.

We present a method of helical long-period fiber grating (H-LPFG) fabrication by use of a CO2 laser for use as an optical torque sensor. A conventional optical fiber grating has periodic vertical index changes along its fiber axis, but a H-LPFG has a screw-type index modulation. The helical index modulation is obtained with the asymmetric index change caused by a single-side laser beam exposure.

Tunable photonic crystal fiber coupler based on a side-polishing technique.

A tunable photonic crystal fiber (PCF) coupler, which couples part of the optical power in one PCF with that in another PCF, has been made by side polishing. We fabricated the PCF coupler by mating two side-polished PCFs. We achieved evanescent field coupling between the core modes of the two PCFs by using side polishing to bring the cores close to each other.

Discrimination of temperature and strain with a single FBG based on the birefringence effect.

We will demonstrate a new technique to discriminate the temperature and strain effects using a single fiber Bragg grating (FBG). The birefringence is typically induced during FBG inscription, and it is manifested as polarization-dependent loss (PDL), and it is defined as the maximum change in the transmitted power for polarizations. Two independent measurements of the resonance wavelength shift and the changes of PDL can discriminate those effects.

All-optical switching application based on optical nonlinearity of Yb(3+) doped aluminosilicate glass fiber with a long-period fiber gratings pair.

We propose a new fiber-type all-optical switching device based on the optical nonlinearity of Yb(3+) doped fiber and a long-period fiber gratings(LPG) pair. The all-optical ON-OFF switching with the continuous wave laser signal at ~1556nm in the LPG pair including the 25.5cm long Yb(3+) doped fiber was demonstrated up to ~200Hz upon pumping with the modulated square wave pulses at 976nm, where a full optical switching with the ~18dB extinction ratio was obtained at the launched pump power of ~35mW.

Reduction of Birefringence and Polarization- Dependent Loss of Long-Period Fiber Gratings Fabricated with a KrF Excimer Laser.

We discuss the effect of UV laser exposure time, repetition rate, and heating by a heating coil on the resonance peak depth and polarization-dependent loss (PDL) of long-period fiber gratings (LPFGs). The LPFGs were fabricated with a KrF excimer laser and an amplitude mask. We observed an initial increase of the resonance peak depth and PDL as the UV exposure time was increased, which eventually decreased in response to over-coupling.