Jörg Bierlich

Double antiresonant hollow core fiber – guidance in the deep ultraviolet by modified tunneling leaky modes

Guiding light inside the hollow cores of microstructured optical fibers is a major research field within fiber optics. However, most of current fibers reveal limited spectral operation ranges between the mid-visible and the infrared and rely on complicated microstructures. Here we report on a new type of hollow-core fiber, showing for the first time distinct transmission windows between the deep ultraviolet and the near infrared. The fiber, guiding in a single mode, operates by the central core mode being anti-resonant to adjacent modes, leading to a novel modified tunneling leaky mode. The fiber design is straightforward to implement and reveals beneficial features such as preselecting the lowest loss mode (Gaussian-like or donut-shaped mode). Fibers with such a unique combination of attributes allow accessing the extremely important deep-UV range with Gaussian-like mode quality and may pave the way for new discoveries in biophotonics, multispectral spectroscopy, photo-initiated chemistry or ultrashort pulse delivery.

Towards the control of highly sensitive Fabry-Pérot strain sensor based on hollow-core ring photonic crystal fiber

A high sensitivity Fabry-Pérot (FP) strain sensor based on hollow-core ring photonic crystal fiber was investigated. A low-finesse FP cavity was fabricated by splicing a section of hollow-core ring photonic crystal fiber between two standard single mode fibers. The geometry presents a low cross section area of silica enabling to achieve high strain sensitivity. Strain measurements were performed by considering the FP cavity length in a range of 1000 μm. The total length of the strain gauge at which strain was applied was also studied for a range of 900 mm. The FP cavity length variation highly influenced the strain sensitivity, and for a length of 13 μm a sensitivity of 15.4 pm/με was attained. Relatively to the strain gauge length, its dependence to strain sensitivity is low. Finally, the FP cavity presented residual temperature sensitivity (~0.81 pm/°C).

Material and technology trends in fiber optics

Abstract The increasing fields of applications for modern optical fibers present great challenges to the material properties and the processing technology of fiber optics. This paper gives an overview of the capabilities and limitations of established vapor deposition fiber preform technologies, and discusses new techniques for improved and extended doping properties in fiber preparation. In addition, alternative fabrication technologies are discussed, such as a powder-based process (REPUSIL) and an optimized glass melting method to overcome the limits of conventional vapor deposition methods concerning the volume fabrication of rare earth (RE)-doped quartz and high silica glasses. The new preform technologies are complementary with respect to enhanced RE solubility, the adjustment of nonlinear fiber properties, and the possibility of hybrid fiber fabrication. The drawing technology is described based on the requirements of specialty fibers such as adjusted preform and fiber diameters, varying coating properties, and the microstructuring of fiber configurations as low as in the nanometer range.

High temperature sensing with fiber Bragg gratings in sapphire-derived all-glass optical fibers

A structured sapphire-derived all-glass optical fiber with an aluminum content in the core of up to 50 mol% was used for fiber Bragg grating inscription. The fiber provided a parabolic refractive index profile. Fiber Bragg gratings were inscribed by means of femtosecond-laser pulses with a wavelength of 400 nm in combination with a two-beam phase mask interferometer. Heating experiments demonstrated the stability of the gratings for temperatures up to 950°C for more than 24 h without degradation in reflectivity.

Fabry-Perot cavity based on silica tube for strain sensing at high temperatures

In this work, a Fabry-Perot cavity based on a new silica tube design is proposed. The tube presents a cladding with a thickness of ~14 μm and a hollow core. The presence of four small rods, of ~20 μm diameter each, placed in diametrically opposite positions ensure the mechanical stability of the tube. The cavity, formed by splicing a section of the silica tube between two sections of single mode fiber, is characterized in strain and temperature (from room temperature to 900 °C). When the sensor is exposed to high temperatures, there is a change in the response to strain. The influence of the thermal annealing is investigated in order to improve the sensing head performance.

Origins of modal loss of antiresonant hollow-core optical fibers in the ultraviolet

Recently, a novel antiresonant hollow core fiber was introduced having promising UV guiding properties. Accompanying simulations predicted ten times lower loss than observed experimentally. Increasing loss is observed in many antiresonant fibers with the origin being unknown. Here, two possible reasons for the enhanced loss are discussed: strand thickness variation and surface roughness scattering. Our analysis shows that the attenuation is sensitive to thickness variations of the strands surrounding the hollow-core which strongly increase loss at short wavelengths. The contribution of surface roughness stays below the dB/km level and can be neglected. Thus, preventing structural irregularities by improved fabrication approaches is essential for decreasing loss.

Trends and future of fiber Bragg grating sensing technologies: tailored draw tower gratings (DTGs)

Today fiber Bragg gratings are commonly used in sensing technology as well as in telecommunications. Numerous requirements must be satisfied for their application as a sensor such as the number of sensors per system, the measurement resolution and repeatability, the sensor reusability as well as the sensor costs. In addition current challenges need to be met in the near future for sensing fibers to keep and extend their marketability such as the suitability for sterilization, hydrogen darkening or the separation of strain and temperature (or pressure and temperature). In this contribution we will give an outlook about trends and future of the fiber Bragg gratings in sensing technologies. Specifically, we will discuss how the use of draw tower grating technology enables the production of tailored Bragg grating sensing fibers, and we will present a method of separating strain and temperature by the use of a single Bragg grating only, avoiding the need for additional sensors to realize the commonly applied temperature compensation.

High-sensitivity dispersive Mach–Zehnder interferometer based on a dissimilar-doping dual-core fiber for sensing applications

A dual-core fiber in which one of the cores is doped with germanium and the other with phosphorus is used as an in-line Mach-Zehnder dispersive interferometer. By ensuring an equal length but with different dispersion dependencies in the interferometer arms (the two cores), high-sensitivity strain and temperature sensing are achieved. Opposite sensitivities for high and low wavelength peaks were also demonstrated when strain and temperature was applied. To our knowledge this is the first time that such behavior is demonstrated using this type of in-line interferometer based on a dual-core fiber. A sensitivity of (0.102±0.002)  nm/με, between 0 and 800  με and (-4.2±0.2)  nm/°C between 47°C and 62°C is demonstrated.

Fabry-Perot sensor based on two coupled microspheres for strain measurement

A Fabry-Perot based sensor with two coupled hollow microspheres is presented. The sensor was fabricated using fusion splicing techniques, enabling a low-cost, highly reproducible, production. The coupling of the two microspheres gives rise to a highly sensitive strain sensor, reaching a sensitivity of 4.07 pm/µε. The all-silica composition leads to a low thermal sensitivity, making the proposed structure suitable applications in environments with varying external conditions.

High peak power amplification in large-core all-solid Yb fibers with an index-elevated pump clad and a low numerical aperture core

We report on the development of large-core Yb-doped fibers with up to 100 μm core diameter and present first experimental results for high peak power amplification. The material for core and pump cladding was fabricated by Powder Sinter Technology. Using a high Al concentration we achieved a numerical aperture (NA) of 0.21 of the pump cladding and a core NA below 0.1. The rod-type fiber exhibits high pump absorption. Using a 0.55 m short fiber sample as the main amplifier in a 3-stage ns pulsed fiber Master Oscillator Power Amplifier system we achieved 3 ns output pulses with 360 kW peak power and 2 mJ pulse energy. We observed suppressed Stimulated Raman Scattering with respect to the signal pulses, which offers the possibility of further power scaling of such fiber amplifier systems.