Marc Wuilpart

High resolution interrogation of tilted fiber grating SPR sensors from polarization properties measurement.

The generation of surface plasmon resonances (SPRs) in gold-coated weakly tilted fiber Bragg gratings (TFBGs) strongly depends on the state of polarization of the core guided light. Recently, it was demonstrated that rotating the linear state of polarization of the guided light by 90° with respect to the grating tilt allows to turn the SPR on and off. In this work, we measure the Jones matrix associated to the TFBG transmission properties in order to be able to analyze different polarization-related parameters (i.e. dependency on wavelength of polarization dependent loss and first Stokes parameter). As they contain the information about the SPR, they can be used as a robust and accurate demodulation technique for refractometry purposes. Unlike other methods reported so far, a tight control of the input state of polarization is not required. The maximum error on refractive index measurement has been determined to be ~1 10(-5) refractive index unit (RIU), 5 times better than intensity-based measurements on the same sensors.

Optical layer monitoring in Passive Optical Networks (PONs): A review

Motivations, challenges and requirements of optical layer monitoring in PONs are discussed. An exhaustive review of monitoring systems is given considering both time-division multiplexed PON (TDM-PON) and wavelength-division multiplexed PON (WDM-PON) cases.

Measurement of the spatial distribution of birefringence in optical fibers

We describe a technique for the measurement of the birefringence spatial distribution in a single-mode optical fiber with a resolution of 1 m. This technique is based on a polarization optical time-domain reflectometer using a rotary linear polarizer. We report results performed on different types of fibers: standard step-index and dispersion shifted fibers.

Transverse Strain Measurements Using the Birefringence Effect in Fiber Bragg Gratings

Birefringence in fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) leads to polarization-dependent properties such as polarization-dependent loss (PDL). Although this property is not desired for telecommunications applications, we demonstrate that the PDL generated by uniform FBGs written into standard single-mode fiber can be advantageously used for transverse strain measurements, which is not directly possible through amplitude spectral measurements.

Spectral characterization of differential group delay in uniform fiber Bragg gratings

In this paper, we completely study the wavelength dependency of differential group delay (DGD) in uniform fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) exhibiting birefringence. An analytical expression of DGD is established. We analyze the impact of grating parameters (physical length, index modulation and apodization profile) on the wavelength dependency of DGD. Experimental results complete the paper. A very good agreement between theory and experience is reported.

Femtosecond-laser-induced highly birefringent Bragg gratings in standard optical fiber

We report highly birefringent fiber Bragg gratings in standard single-mode optical fiber realized with UV femtosecond pulses and line-by-line inscription. By controlling the three-dimensional positioning of the focused laser beam with respect to the fiber core, we achieve very high birefringence at the grating location in a single exposure. A maximum birefringence value of 7.93×10(-4) has been reached for 10th-order gratings when using 2 μJ pulses, which is to our knowledge the highest birefringence value reported so far. This birefringence results from UV-induced high-densification lines shifted from the center of the core, increasing the asymmetry of the induced-stress lines. With a Bragg wavelength spacing reaching more than 800 pm between polarization modes, such gratings are particularly well suited for selective filtering or, as demonstrated here, for temperature-insensitive transverse-strain measurements.

Influence of the Grating Parameters on the Polarization Properties of Fiber Bragg Gratings

Due to the lateral inscription process, photo-induced birefringence is present in fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) written into photosensitive single mode fiber. The birefringence value is generally too small to be perceived in the grating spectral response but it can lead to significant polarization dependent loss (PDL) and differential group delay (DGD) evolutions. In this paper, we first theoretically analyze the evolution with wavelength of PDL and DGD as a function of the grating parameters and the birefringence value. We demonstrate that the PDL and DGD evolutions with wavelength can be strongly enhanced by a modification of the grating parameters. Simulations carried out using the coupled mode theory and the Jones formalism are then confirmed by experiments conducted on FBGs written into photosensitive single mode fiber. Our work brings a complete characterization of polarization related phenomena in FBGs and presents a great interest for the evaluation of system performances and the design of gratings for specific applications, either for telecommunications or sensing purposes. In addition, based on the comparison between experimental and simulated evolutions, we are able to verify that the birefringence value is strongly dependent on the fluence of the laser used for the grating inscription.

Novel Monitoring Technique for Passive Optical Networks Based on Optical Frequency Domain Reflectometry and Fiber Bragg Gratings

An efficient monitoring method having a very short measurement time (a few seconds) is proposed. The equal-length branches can be effectively monitored, but also the information of temperature at any place in the network can be obtained. The feasibility of this technique is experimentally demonstrated.

Tilted Fiber Bragg Grating Refractometer Using Polarization-Dependent Loss Measurement

In this letter, a novel demodulation technique based on the monitoring of the polarization-dependent loss in a 1-nm wavelength range is proposed to measure the surrounding refractive index by means of weakly tilted fiber Bragg gratings. A 110-3 refractive index resolution as well as a temperature-insensitive behaviour are reported.

Analysis and suppression of nonlinear frequency modulation in an optical frequency-domain reflectometer

A new method for monitoring the nonlinearities perturbing the optical frequency sweep in high speed tunable laser sources is presented. The swept-frequency monitoring system comprises a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and simple signal processing steps. It has been implemented in a coherent optical frequency domain reflectometer which allowed to drastically reduce the effects of nonlinear sweep, resulting to a spatial resolution enhancement of 30 times.