The historical beginnings of photosensitivity and fiber Bragg grating (FBG) technology are recounted. The basic techniques for fiber grating fabrication, their characteristics, and the fundamental properties of fiber gratings are described. The many applications of fiber grating technology are tabulated, and some selected applications are briefly described.

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Fiber Bragg grating technology fundamentals and overview

Bragg gratings have been produced in germanosilicate optical fibers by exposing the core, through the side of the cladding, to a coherent UV two-beam interference pattern with a wavelength selected to lie in the oxygen-vacancy defect band of germania, near 244 nm. Fractional index perturbations of approximately 3 x 10(-5) have been written in a 4.4-mm length of the core with a 5-min exposure. The Bragg filters formed by this new technique had reflectivities of 50-55% and spectral widths, at half-maximum, of 42 GHz.

Formation of Bragg gratings in optical fibers by a transverse holographic method

Since the discovery of photosensitivity in optical fibers there has been great interest in the fabrication of Bragg gratings within the core of a fiber. The ability to inscribe intracore Bragg gratings in these photosensitive fibers has revolutionized the field of telecommunications and optical fiber based sensor technology. Over the last few years, the number of researchers investigating fundamental, as well as application aspects of these gratings has increased dramatically. This article reviews the technology of Bragg gratings in optical fibers. It introduces the phenomenon of photosensitivity in optical fibers, examines the properties of Bragg gratings, and presents some of the important developments in devices and applications. The most common fabrication techniques (interferometric, phase mask, and point by point) are examined in detail with reference to the advantages and the disadvantages in utilizing them for inscribing Bragg gratings. Reflectivity, bandwidth, temperature, and strain sensitivity of the Bragg reflectors are examined and novel and special Bragg grating structures such as chirped gratings, blazed gratings, phase-shifted gratings, and superimposed multiple gratings are discussed. A formalism for calculating the spectral response of Bragg grating structures is described. Finally, devices and applications for telecommunication and fiber-optic sensors are described, and the impact of this technology on the future of the above areas is discussed.

Fiber Bragg gratings

In-service structural health monitoring (SHM) of engineering structures has assumed a significant role in assessing their safety and integrity. Fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensors have emerged as a reliable, in situ, non-destructive tool for monitoring, diagnostics and control in civil structures. The versatility of FBG sensors represents a key advantage over other technologies in the structural sensing field. In this article, the recent research and development activities in structural health monitoring using FBG sensors have been critically reviewed, highlighting the areas where further work is needed. A few packaging schemes for FBG strain sensors are also discussed. Finally a few limitations and market barriers associated with the use of these sensors have been addressed.

Fibre Bragg gratings in structural health monitoring—Present status and applications

We find that the parametric four-photon gain for light pulses decreases for fibers longer than a characteristic length. This length is related to the common experimental observation that stimulated parametric emission is usually prominent only in short fibers while in long fibers stimulated Raman scattering dominates. Despite the fact that the actual process involves an intensity dependent bandwidth and broadening of the pump linewidth from self-phase modulation, it is possible to develop a simple expression for the characteristic length which requires only the initial pump linewidth and the low-power parametric bandwidth. This bandwidth can often be estimated from the pump wavelength and the measured frequency shift between the pump and the generated waves. Expressions for gain and amplification are derived from coupled wave equations and in the Appendixes it is shown that these are of the same form as the planewave equations, but modified by coupling coefficients called overlap integrals.

Parametric amplification and frequency conversion in optical fibers

The formation and characterization of narrow-band-waveguide reflection filters in Ge-doped silica optical fibers is described. The filters can have complex response profiles and are tunable in frequency by mechanical strain.

Narrow-band Bragg reflectors in optical fibers.

The generation in an optical-fiber waveguide of a spectral continuum spanning 29000 cm−1 from the near infrared to the ultraviolet is reported. A Q-switched and mode-locked Nd:YAG laser is used to excite the fiber. An unexpected phenomenon is the generation of sum-frequency light derived from the pump frequency and the characteristic Raman Stokes frequencies of fused silica. This light is observed as visible light in cladding modes of the fiber.

Y. Fujii

Papers

Narrow-band Bragg reflectors in optical fibers.

Sum-frequency light generation in optical fibers.