Fibre-Bragg-grating writing in single-mode optical fibres by UV femtosecond pulses

Fiber-Bragg-grating writing in optical fibres

Fibre-Bragg-grating writing in single-mode optical fibres by the phase-mask method using 220-fs, 264-nm UV pulses of intensity 31-77 GW cm^ is reported for the first
time. The achieved degree of modulation of the photoinduced refractive index was 1.9 x 10^ in an H2-loaded SMF-28 telecommunication fibre and 1.1 x 10 in a H2-free Nufern GFl fibre. The dependence of the induced refractive index on the intensity for the same irradiation fluences in the case of the H2-loaded SMF-28 fibre shows that the refractive index is induced due to nonlinear absorption.

pdf

Femtosecond Lasers - Reserve a spot in our femtosecond Ti:Sapphire training workshop during this summer in San Diego, California

Ti:Sapphire lasers
Trestles femtosecond Ti:Sapphire laser
Trestles Finesse femtosecond Ti:Sapphire laser with integrated DPSS pump laser
Teahupoo Rider femtosecond amplified Ti:Sapphire laser

Cr:Forsterite lasers
Mavericks femtosecond Cr:Forsterite laser

Er-based lasers
Tamarack femtosecond fiber laser (Er-doped fiber)
Buccaneer femtosecond OA fiber laser (Er-doped fiber) and SHG
Cannon Ultra-broadband light source

Yb-based lasers
Tourmaline femtosecond Yt-doped fiber laser
Tourmaline Yb-SS400 Ytterbium-doped Femtosecond Solid-State Laser
Tourmaline Yb-ULRepRate-07 Yb-based high-energy fiber laser system kit

Cr:ZnSe lasers
Chata femtosecond Cr:ZnSe laser (2.5 micron) coming soon

Fabrication of fiber Bragg gratings with 267 nm femtosecond radiation

K.A. Zagorulko, P.G. Kryukov, Yu.V. Larionov, A.A. Rybaltovsky and E.M. Dianov
Fiber Optics Research Center at the A.M. Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
38 Vavilov Street, Moscow 119991, Russia

S.V. Chekalin, Yu.A. Matveets and V.O. Kompanets
Institute of Spectroscopy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Troitsk, Moscow Region 142190, Russia

Abstract: Strong high-quality fiber Bragg gratings with photoinduced refractive-index modulation of more than 10-3 were written in a Corning SMF-28 fiber, a P2O5-doped-core fiber and a pure-silica-core fluorinedoped-cladding fiber by third-harmonic radiation (267 nm, 150 fs and 1.2-1.8×1011 W/cm2) of a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser (Trestles) using a phase mask.
We compare the 267-nm photosensitivity responses with the results of irradiation by 193-nm ArF and 157-nm F2 excimer lasers. The dependence of the refractive-index change on the exposure dose and the annealing characteristics of the fabricated gratings are typical for Type-I UV-written fiber gratings.

(pdf)

Fibre Bragg Gratings Written in Pure Silica Photonic Crystal Fibres with Ultraviolet Femtosecond Laser Pulses

Libin Fu1, Graham D. Marshall2, Jeremy A. Bolger1, Paul E. Steinvurzel1, Eric C. Mägi1,
Michael J. Withford2, Benjamin J. Eggleton1,
1 CUDOS, School of Physics, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia,
Phone: (612) 9036 5206, Fax: (612) 9351 7726
2 CUDOS, Department of Physics, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia,
Phone: (612) 9850 7583, Fax: (612) 9850 8115

Abstract
We report the fabrication of fibre Bragg gratings in pure silica photonic crystal fibres using UV
femtosecond laser radiation at 267 nm. Gratings have been fabricated with up to 10 dB transmission
loss and an average index change of Δn> 4×10-4.
Introduction:
Photonic crystal fibres (PCFs), optical fibres with a periodic array of air holes in the cladding,
comprise an exciting new class of waveguide with unique modal, dispersive and nonlinear properties.
Guidance in these fibres is mediated by the index contrast between the silica core and low effective
index holey cladding. They have been used as a platform for demonstrating new optical propagation
phenomena and for creating tunable fibre devices. The ability to write fibre Bragg gratings (FBGs) in
PCFs immediately suggests a broad range of new research to be conducted in these fibres. FBGs can
be used as a diagnostic tool to experimentally probe the modal properties of a fibre or to locally
modify the waveguide dispersion. They may also be used in the creation of novel fibre devices, where
the PCF geometry may provide enhanced functionality over conventional step index fibres.

(pdf)

TPA-induced long-period gratings in a photonic crystal fiber: inscription and temperature sensing properties

Fotiadi, Andrei A., Brambilla, Gilberto, Ernst, Thomas, Slattery, Stephen A. and Nikogosyan, David N. (2007) TPA-induced long-period gratings in a photonic crystal fiber: inscription and temperature sensing properties. Journal of the Optical Society of America B, 24, (7), 1475-1481.

Abstract

We report on the photochemical recording of long-period fiber gratings (LPFGs) in a photonic crystal fiber made of pure fused silica. Such inscription is based on two-photon absorption (TPA) of high-intensity (~300GW/cm) 264 nm 220 fs pulses and brings about LPFGs of high strength and narrow peak width. The characteristic fluence value for the inscription is 1 order of magnitude less than that for a standard telecom fiber irradiated under similar conditions. The temperature sensitivity of TPA-induced LPFGs is ~300 pm/ °C and overcomes that of LPFGs inscribed by other nonphotochemical methods by 2 orders of magnitude.

References:

1. G. Kakarantzas, T. A. Birks, and P. St. J. Russell, "Structural long-period gratings in photonic crystal fibers," Opt. Lett. 27, 1013-1015 (2002).
2. Y. Zhu, P. Shum, J.-H. Chong, M. K. Rao, and C. Lu, "Deep-notch, ultracompact long-period grating in a largemode-area photonic crystal fiber," Opt. Lett. 28, 2467-2469 (2003).
3. Y. Zhu, P. Shum, H.-W. Bay, M. Yan, X. Yu, J. Hu, J. Hao, and C. Lu, "Strain-insensitive and high-temperature long period gratings inscribed in photonic crystal fiber," Opt. Lett. 30, 367-369 (2005).
4. G. Humbert, A. Malki, S. Février, P. Roy, and D. Pagnoux, "Electric arc-induced long-period gratings in Ge-free air silica microstructure fibres," Electron. Lett. 39, 349-350 (2003).
5. G. Humbert, A. Malki, S. Février, P. Roy, and D. Pagnoux, "Characterizations at high temperatures of long-period gratings written in germanium-free air-silica microstructure fiber," Opt. Lett. 29, 38-40 (2004).
6. K. Morishita and Y. Miyake, "Fabrication and resonance wavelengths of long-period gratings written in a pure-silica photonic crystal fiber by the glass structure change," J. Lightwave Technol. 22, 625-630 (2004).
7. H. Dobb, K. Kalli, and D. Webb, "Temperature-insensitive long period grating sensors in photonic crystal fibre," Electron. Lett. 40, 657-658 (2004).
8. J. S. Petrovic, V. Mezentsev, H. Dobb, D. J. Webb, K. Kalli, and I. Bennion, "Multiple period resonances in long period gratings in photonic crystal fibres," Opt. Quantum Electron. 38, 209-216 (2006).
9. H. Dobb, K. Kalli, and D. J. Webb, "Measured sensitivity of arc-induced long-period gratings sensors in photonic crystal fibre," Opt. Commun. 260, 184-191 (2006).
10. J. H. Lim, K. S. Lee, J. C. Kim, and B. H. Lee, "Tunable fiber gratings fabricated in photonic crystal fiber by use of mechanical pressure," Opt. Lett. 29, 331-333 (2004).
11. K. N. Park, T. Erdogan, and K. S. Lee, "Cladding mode coupling in long-period gratings formed in photonic crystal fibers," Opt. Commun. 26, 541-545 (2006).
12. B. J. Eggleton, P. S. Westbrook, R. S. Windeler, S. Spälter, and T. A. Strasser, "Grating resonances in air-silica microstructured optical fibers," Opt. Lett. 24, 1460-1462 (1999).
13. D. N. Nikogosyan, Properties of Optical and Laser-Related Materials. A Handbook (Wiley, 1997).
14. A. Dragomir, D. N. Nikogosyan, A. A. Ruth, K. A. Zagorulko, and P. G. Kryukov, "Long-period fibre grating formation with 264 nm femtosecond radiation," Electron. Lett. 38, 269-271 (2002).
15. A. Dragomir, D. N. Nikogosyan, K. Zagorulko, and P. G. Kryukov, "Inscription of long-period fibre gratings by femtosecond UV radiation," Proc. SPIE 4876, 313-320 (2003).
16. A. Dragomir, D. N. Nikogosyan, K. A. Zagorulko, P. G. Kryukov, and E. M. Dianov, "Inscription of fiber Bragg gratings by ultraviolet femtosecond radiation," Opt. Lett. 28, 2171-2173 (2003).
17. S. A. Slattery, D. N. Nikogosyan, and G. Brambilla, "Fiber Bragg grating inscription by high intensity femtosecond UV laserlight: comparison with other existing methods of fabrication," J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 22, 354-361 (2005).
18. S. A. Slattery, D. N. Nikogosyan, and G. Brambilla, "Fiber Bragg grating inscription by high intensity femtosecond UV laserlight: comparison with other existing methods of fabrication: erratum," J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 22, 1143-1143 (2005).
19. A. I. Kalachev, V. Pureur, and D. N. Nikogosyan, "Investigation of long-period fiber gratings induced by high intensity femtosecond UV laser pulses," Opt. Commun. 246, 107-115 (2005).
20. A. I. Kalachev, V. Pureur, and D. N. Nikogosyan, "Investigation of long-period fiber gratings induced by highintensity femtosecond UV laser pulses: erratum," Opt. Commun. 251, 229-229 (2005).
21. L. B. Fu, G. D. Marshall, G. A. Bolger, P. Steinvurzel, E. C. Mägi, M. J. Withford, and B. J. Eggleton, "Femtosecond laser writing Bragg gratings in pure silica photonic crystal fibres," Electron. Lett. 41, 638-640 (2005).
22. G. Brambilla, A. A. Fotiadi, S. A. Slattery, and D. N. Nikogosyan, "Two-photon photochemical long-period grating fabrication in pure-fused-silica photonic crystal fiber," Opt. Lett. 31, 2675-2677 (2006).
23. A. Dragomir, J. G. McInerney, and D. N. Nikogosyan, "Femtosecond measurements of two-photon absorption coefficients at )=264 nm in glasses crystals and liquids," Appl. Opt. 41, 4365-4376 (2002).
24. A. I. Kalachev, D. N. Nikogosyan, and G. Brambilla, "Long period fiber grating fabrication by high-intensity femtosecond pulses at 211 nm," J. Lightwave Technol. 23, 2568-2578 (2005).
25. M. Göppert-Mayer, "Über Elementarakte mit zwei Quantensprüngen," Ann. Phys. 401, 273-294 (1931).
26. W. Kaiser and C. G. B. Garrett, "Two-photon excitation in CaF2:Eu2+," Phys. Rev. Lett. 7, 229-231 (1961).
27. P. Liu, W. L. Smith, H. Lotem, J. H. Bechtel, N. Bloembergen, and R. S. Adhav, "Absolute two-photon absorption coefficients at 355 and 266 nm," Phys. Rev. B 17, 4620-4632 (1978).
28. P. Liu, R. Yen, and N. Bloembergen, "Two-photon absorption coefficients in UV window and coating materials," Appl. Opt. 18, 1015-1018 (1979).
29. A. Dragomir, J. G. McInerney, D. N. Nikogosyan, and P. G. Kazansky, "Two-photon absorption properties of commercial fusedsilica and germanosilicate glass at 264 nm," Appl. Phys. Lett. 80, 1114-1116 (2002).
30. D. N. Nikogosyan, A. A. Oraevsky, and V. I. Rupasov, "Two-photon ionization and dissociation of liquid water by powerful laser UV irradiation," Chem. Phys. 77, 131-143 (1983).
31. O. Kittelmann and J. Ringling, "Intensity-dependent transmission properties of window materials at 193-nm irradiation," Opt. Lett. 19, 2053-2055 (1994).
32. N. Groothoff, J. Canning, E. Buckley, K. Lyttikainen, and J. Zagari, "Bragg gratings in air-silica structured fibers," Opt. Lett. 28, 233-235 (2003).
33. Z. A. Weinberg, G. W. Rubloff, and E. Bassous, "Transmission photoconductivity and the experimental band gap of thermally grown SiO2 films," Phys. Rev. B 19, 3107-3117 (1979).
34. M. N. Ng and K. S. Chiang, "Thermal effects on the transmission spectra of long-period fiber gratings," Opt. Commun. 208, 321-327 (2002).
35. K. P. Chen, P. R. Herman, R. Tam, and J. Zhang, "Rapid long-period grating formation in hydrogen-loaded fibre with 157 nm," Electron. Lett. 36, 2000-2001 (2000).
36. E. Salik, D. S. Starodubov, and J. Feinberg, "Increase of photosensitivity in Ge-doped fibers under strain," Opt. Lett. 25, 1147-1149 (2000).
37. L. Qin, Z. X. Wei, Q. Y. Wang, H. P. Li, W. Zheng, Y. S. Zhang, and D. S. Gao, "Compact temperature compensating package for long-period fiber gratings," Opt. Mater. 14, 239-242 (2000).

Del Mar Photonics featured customer: Dr Jeremy Bolger website

Bio: Jeremy Bolger received the BSc. Hons. (1st) degree from the University of Western Australia in 1982. He worked in applied mining research for Group Special Equipment, CRA, Melbourne for two years before moving to the UK to take up a British Council Commonwealth Scholarships and Fellowships Plan PhD scholarship at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. He received his PhD in 1992 for a comprehensive investigation of ultrafast visible-wavelength nonlinearities in wide-gap II-VI semiconductors and in crystalline polymers.
Subsequent to his PhD studies, Dr. Bolger worked at the Iowa Advanced Technology Laboratories, University of Iowa, USA on ultrafast coherent dephasing nonlinearities in GaAs multiple-quantum wells (MQWs) at cryogenic temperatures. He devised and demonstrated a pioneering experiment in time- and polarization-resolved coherent four-wave mixing on 100 fs timescales, which demonstrated the influence of biexciton states in the optical properties of MQWs at much higher temperatures than previously thought. After working in industrial laboratories in defence and mining in Australia for four years Dr. Bolger moved into the fibre-optic component development industry in 2000, working for Nortel Networks (Photonic) and then JDS Uniphase, where he designed and prototyped components used in ultra-high speed long-haul transmission networks, including micro-optic circulators and dispersion-compensating gratings. He was responsible for the design and demonstration of the world’s smallest optical circulator, with length only 27 mm, which was subsequently commercialised to a mass-production stage.
He is currently the Laboratory Manager at the new Photonics and Optical Physics Laboratory at the University of Sydney (POPLUS), a new facility funded by CUDOS. Dr. Bolger is a member of the Optical Society of America.

Jeremy purchased Del Mar Photonics Pismo pulse picker with custom specifications.

Additional information on Pismo pulse pickers

Del Mar Photonics