All Optical Fiber Polarization Controlling Devices Fabricated by Femtosecond Laser Irradiation

Abstract

This paper reports the stress-induced birefringence generated in an optical fiber using femtosecond laser (fs) irradiations and the fabrication of in-fiber waveplates and polarizers. Optical birefringence was created in a single-mode fiber by introducing a series of symmetric cuboid stress rods on both sides of the fiber core and along the fiber axis using a femtosecond laser. The stress-induced birefringence was estimated to be 2.4x10-4 at the optical wavelength of 1550 nm. By controlling the length of the stress rods, waveplates of t+K2he desired retardance can be fabricated. The stress-induced birefringence was further explored to fabricate in-fiber polarizers based on the polarization-dependent long-period fiber grating (LPFG) structure. For the in-fiber polarizer based on low order mode LPFG, a polarization extinction ratio of more than 25 dB was observed at the wavelength of 1527.8 nm. A high order mode LPFG based in-fiber polarizer, with a broad bandwidth of 100 nm near 1550 nm, was investigated as well. The in-fiber polarization devices with low insertion loss may be useful in optical communications and fiber optic sensing applications.

Meeting Name

SPIE LASE (2016: Feb. 15-18, San Francisco, CA)

Department(s)

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Keywords and Phrases

Birefringence; Diffraction gratings; Fabrication; Fibers; Irradiation; Optical communication; Optical fiber fabrication; Optical fibers; Optical instruments; Polarization; Single mode fibers; Ultrashort pulses, Fiber-optic sensing; In-fiber; Long period fiber grating; Optical birefringence; Polarization devices; Polarization extinction ratio; Stress induced birefringence; Waveplates; Optical fiber communication; Femtosecond laser irradiation; In-fiber polarizer; Stress-induced birefringence

International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

978-1628419757

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0277-786X; 1996-756X

Document Type

Article - Conference proceedings

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2016 SPIE, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Feb 2016

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