Showing papers on "Optical fiber published in 2009"

Tapered fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer for simultaneous measurement of refractive index and temperature

Abstract: An approach to achieve simultaneous measurement of refractive index and temperature is proposed by using a Mach–Zehnder interferometer realized on tapered single-mode optical fiber. The attenuation peak wavelength of the interference with specific order in the transmission spectrum shifts with changes in the environmental refractive index and temperature. By utilizing S-band and C/L-band light sources, simultaneous discrimination of refractive index and temperature with the tapered fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer is demonstrated with the corresponding sensitivities of −23.188 nm/RIU (refractive index unit) and 0.071 nm/ °C, and −26.087 nm/RIU (blueshift) and 0.077 nm/°C (redshift) for the interference orders of 169 and 144, respectively.

Generation and propagation of radially polarized beams in optical fibers

Abstract: Beams with polarization singularities have attracted immense recent attention in a wide array of scientific and technological disciplines. We demonstrate a class of optical fibers in which these beams can be generated and propagated over long lengths with unprecedented stability, even in the presence of strong bend perturbations. This opens the door to exploiting nonlinear fiber optics to manipulate such beams. This fiber also possesses the intriguingly counterintuitive property of being polarization maintaining despite being strictly cylindrically symmetric, a prospect hitherto considered infeasible with optical fibers.

Surface Plasmon Resonance-Based Fiber Optic Sensors: Principle, Probe Designs, and Some Applications

Abstract: Surface plasmon resonance technique in collaboration with optical fiber technology has brought tremendous advancements in sensing of various physical, chemical, and biochemical parameters. In this review article, we present the principle of SPR technique for sensing and various designs of the fiber optic SPR probe reported for the enhancement of the sensitivity of the sensor. In addition, we present few examples of the surface plasmon resonance- (SPR-) based fiber optic sensors. The present review may provide researchers valuable information regarding fiber optic SPR sensors and encourage them to take this area for further research and development.

Bendable, low-loss Topas fibers for the terahertz frequency range

Abstract: We report on a new class of polymer photonic crystal fibers for low-loss guidance of THz radiation. The use of the cyclic olefin copolymer Topas, in combination with advanced fabrication technology, results in bendable THz fibers with unprecedented low loss and low material dispersion in the THz regime.We demonstrate experimentally how the dispersion may be engineered by fabricating both high- and low-dispersion fibers with zero-dispersion frequency in the regime 0.5-0.6 THz. Near-field, frequencyresolved characterization with high spatial resolution of the amplitude and phase of the modal structure proves that the fiber is single-moded over a wide frequency range, and we see the onset of higher-order modes at high frequencies as well as indication of microporous guiding at low frequencies and high porosity of the fiber. Transmission spectroscopy demonstrates low-loss propagation (< 0.1 dB/cm loss at 0.6 THz) over a wide frequency range.

Ultrasensitive photonic crystal fiber refractive index sensor

Abstract: We introduce a microfluidic refractive index sensor based on a directional coupler architecture using solid-core photonic crystal fibers. The sensor achieves very high sensitivity by coupling the core mode to a mode in the adjacent fluid-filled waveguide that is beyond modal cutoff, and with strong field overlap. We demonstrate the device through the selective infiltration of a single hole with fluid along a microstructured optical fiber. A detection limit of 4.6x10(-7) refractive index units has been derived from measurements with a sensitivity of 30,100 nm per refractive index unit, which is the highest for a fiber device to date.

Optical fiber nanowires and microwires: fabrication and applications

Abstract: Microwires and nanowires have been manufactured by using a wide range of bottom-up techniques such as chemical or physical vapor deposition and top-down processes such as fiber drawing. Among these techniques, the manufacture of wires from optical fibers provides the longest, most uniform and robust nanowires. Critically, the small surface roughness and the high-homogeneity associated with optical fiber nanowires (OFNs) provide low optical loss and allow the use of nanowires for a wide range of new applications for communications, sensing, lasers, biology, and chemistry. OFNs offer a number of outstanding optical and mechanical properties, including (1) large evanescent fields, (2) high-nonlinearity, (3) strong confinement, and (4) low-loss interconnection to other optical fibers and fiberized components. OFNs are fabricated by adiabatically stretching optical fibers and thus preserve the original optical fiber dimensions at their input and output, allowing ready splicing to standard fibers. A review of the manufacture of OFNs is presented, with a particular emphasis on their applications. Three different groups of applications have been envisaged: (1) devices based on the strong confinement or nonlinearity, (2) applications exploiting the large evanescent field, and (3) devices involving the taper transition regions. The first group includes supercontinuum generators, a range of nonlinear optical devices, and optical trapping. The second group comprises knot, loop, and coil resonators and their applications, sensing and particle propulsion by optical pressure. Finally, mode filtering and mode conversion represent applications based on the taper transition regions. Among these groups of applications, devices exploiting the OFN-based resonators are possibly the most interesting; because of the large evanescent field, when OFNs are coiled onto themselves the mode propagating in the wire interferes with itself to give a resonator. In contrast with the majority of high-Q resonators manufactured by other means, the OFN microresonator does not have major issues with input-output coupling and presents a completely integrated fiberized solution. OFNs can be used to manufacture loop and coil resonators with Q factors that, although still far from the predicted value of 10. The input-output pigtails play a major role in shaping the resonator response and can be used to maximize the Q factor over a wide range of coupling parameters. Finally, temporal stability and robustness issues are discussed, and a solution to optical degradation issues is presented.

Fiber-Optic Distributed Strain and Temperature Sensing With Very High Measurand Resolution Over Long Range Using Coherent OTDR

Abstract: We describe a novel fiber-optic technique for measuring distributed strain and temperature that uses a coherent optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) with a precisely frequency-controlled light source. Using this technique, we achieved temperature measurements in an 8-km-long fiber with a resolution of 0.01degC and a spatial resolution of one meter. This temperature resolution is two orders of magnitude better than that provided by the Brillouin based sensing technique.

Tm-Doped Fiber Lasers: Fundamentals and Power Scaling

Abstract: We describe fundamental measurements of the properties of thulium (Tm)-doped silica and power scaling studies of fiber lasers based on the material. Data on the high-lying Tm:silica energy levels, the first taken to our knowledge, indicate that pumping at 790 nm is unlikely to lead to fiber darkening via multiphoton excitation. Measurement of the cross-relaxation dynamics produces an estimate that, at the doping levels used, as much as 80% of the decay of the Tm level pumped is due to cross relaxation. Using a fiber having a 25-mum-diameter, 0.08 numerical aperture (NA) core, we observed fiber laser efficiencies as high as 64.5% and output powers of 300 W (around 2040 nm) for 500 W of launched pump power, with a nearly diffraction-limited beam. At these efficiencies, the cross-relaxation process was producing 1.8 laser photons per pump photon. We generated 885 W from a multimode laser using a 35-mum, 0.2-NA core fiber and set a new record for Tm-doped fiber laser continuous-wave power.

Frequency comb assisted diode laser spectroscopy for measurement of microcavity dispersion

Abstract: Spectroscopy that combines the accuracy of a frequency comb with the ease of use of a tunable, external cavity diode laser is demonstrated, enabling precise dispersion measurements of microresonator modes.

Chalcogenide Glass-Fiber-Based Mid-IR Sources and Applications

Abstract: The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is developing chalcogenide glass fibers for applications in the mid-and long-wave IR wavelength regions from 2 to 12 mum. The chalcogen glasses (i.e., glasses based on the elements S, Se, and Te) are transparent in the IR, possess low phonon energies, are chemically durable, and can be drawn into fiber. Both conventional solid core/clad and microstructured fibers have been developed. Chalcogenide glass compositions have been developed that allow rare earth doping to enable rare-earth-doped fiber lasers in the IR. Also, highly nonlinear compositions have been developed with nonlinearities ~1000times silica that enables nonlinear wavelength conversion from the near IR to the mid-and long-wave IR. In this paper, we review rare-earth-doped chalcogenide fiber for mid-and long-wave IR lasers, and highly nonlinear chalcogenide fiber and photonic crystal fiber for wavelength conversion in the mid-and long-wave IR.

A Fabry–Pérot fiber-optic ultrasonic hydrophone for the simultaneous measurement of temperature and acoustic pressure

Abstract: A dual sensing fiber-optic hydrophone that can make simultaneous measurements of acoustic pressure and temperature at the same location has been developed for characterizing ultrasound fields and ultrasound-induced heating. The transduction mechanism is based on the detection of acoustically- and thermally-induced thickness changes in a polymer film Fabry-Perot interferometer deposited at the tip of a single mode optical fiber. The sensor provides a peak noise-equivalent pressure of 15 kPa (at 5 MHz, over a 20 MHz measurement bandwidth), an acoustic bandwidth of 50 MHz, and an optically defined element size of 10 microm. As well as measuring acoustic pressure, temperature changes up to 70 degrees C can be measured, with a resolution of 0.34 degrees C. To evaluate the thermal measurement capability of the sensor, measurements were made at the focus of a high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) field in a tissue mimicking phantom. These showed that the sensor is not susceptible to viscous heating, is able to withstand high intensity fields, and can simultaneously acquire acoustic waveforms while monitoring induced temperature rises. These attributes, along with flexibility, small physical size (OD approximately 150 microm), immunity to Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI), and low sensor cost, suggest that this type of hydrophone may provide a practical alternative to piezoelectric based hydrophones.

Bi-doped fiber lasers

Abstract: The recent results on the new laser material – Bi-doped glasses and optical fibers are reviewed. First, luminescence properties of various Bi-doped glasses are discussed. At last the results of investigations of Bi-doped fiber lasers covering a wavelength range of 1150 – 1550 nm are presented.

Bend-insensitive single-mode optical fiber

Abstract: The present invention embraces a single-mode optical fiber that, at a wavelength of 1550 nanometers, has bending losses of 0.15 dB/turn or less for a radius of curvature of 5 millimeters.

Optical antenna arrays on a fiber facet for in situ surface-enhanced Raman scattering detection

Abstract: This paper reports a bidirectional fiber optic probe for the detection of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). One facet of the probe features an array of gold optical antennas designed to enhance Raman signals, while the other facet of the fiber is used for the input and collection of light. Simultaneous detection of benzenethiol and 2-[(E)-2-pyridin-4-ylethenyl]pyridine is demonstrated through a 35 cm long fiber. The array of nanoscale optical antennas was first defined by electron-beam lithography on a silicon wafer. The array was subsequently stripped from the wafer and then transferred to the facet of a fiber. Lithographic definition of the antennas provides a method for producing two-dimensional arrays with well-defined geometry, which allows (i) the optical response of the probe to be tuned and (ii) the density of “hot spots” generating the enhanced Raman signal to be controlled. It is difficult to determine the Raman signal enhancement factor (EF) of most fiber optic Raman sensors featuring h...

Ultrabroadband supercontinuum generation from ultraviolet to 6.28 μm in a fluoride fiber

Abstract: Ultrabroadband supercontinuum light expanding from ultraviolet to 6.28 μm is generated in a centimeter-long fluoride fiber pumped by a 1450 nm femtosecond laser. The spectral broadening in the fluoride fiber is caused by self-phase modulation, Raman scattering and four-wave mixing. The experimental and simulated results show that fluoride fiber is a promising candidate for generating the midinfrared supercontinuum light up to 8 μm.

Refractometry based on a photonic crystal fiber interferometer

Abstract: We report a simple and compact modal interferometer for applications in refractometry. The device consists of a stub of large-mode-area photonic crystal fiber (PCF) spliced between standard single-mode fibers. In the splice regions the voids of the PCF are fully collapsed, thus allowing the coupling and recombination of PCF core and cladding modes. The device is highly stable over time, has low temperature sensitivity, and is suitable for measuring indices in the 1.330-1.440 range. The measure of the refractive index is carried out by monitoring the shift of the interference pattern.

All solid photonic bandgap fiber

Abstract: All solid photonic bandgap optical fiber comprising a core region and a cladding region is disclosed. The cladding region surrounding the core region includes a background optical material having a first refractive index and elements arranged in a two-dimensional periodic structure. In one embodiment, each of the elements comprises a center part and peripheral part having a higher refractive than the central part. In other embodiments, each element comprises a plurality of rods having a higher refractive index higher than the fist, the rods of each element arranged in a circle or polygon. Light transmission apparatus and methods of using the fiber are also disclosed.

Engineering nonlinearities in nanoscale optical systems: physics and applications in dispersion-engineered silicon nanophotonic wires

Abstract: The nonlinear optics of Si photonic wires is discussed. The distinctive features of these waveguides are that they have extremely large third-order susceptibility χ(3) and dispersive properties. The strong dispersion and large third-order nonlinearity in Si photonic wires cause the linear and nonlinear optical physics in these guides to be intimately linked. By carefully choosing the waveguide dimensions, both linear and nonlinear optical properties of Si wires can be engineered. We review the fundamental optical physics and emerging applications for these Si wires. In many cases, the relatively low threshold powers for nonlinear optical effects in these wires make them potential candidates for functional on-chip nonlinear optical devices of just a few millimeters in length; conversely, the absence of nonlinear optical impairment is important for the use of Si wires in on-chip interconnects. In addition, the characteristic length scales of linear and nonlinear optical effects in Si wires are markedly different from those in commonly used optical guiding systems, such as optical fibers or photonic crystal fibers, and therefore guiding structures based on Si wires represent ideal optical media for investigating new and intriguing physical phenomena.

1-Tb/s single-channel coherent optical OFDM transmission over 600-km SSMF fiber with subwavelength bandwidth access.

Abstract: A 1-Tb/s single-channel coherent optical OFDM (CO-OFDM) signal consisting of continuous 4,104 spectrally-overlapped subcarriers is generated using a novel device of recirculating frequency shifter (RFS) The RFS produces 3206-GHz wide spectrum using a single laser with superior flatness and tone-to-noise ratio (TNR) The 1-Tb/s CO-OFDM signal is comprised of 36 uncorrelated orthogonal bands achieved by adjusting the delay of the RFS to an integer number of OFDM symbol periods The 1- Tb/s CO-OFDM signal with a spectral efficiency of 33 bit/s/Hz is successfully received after transmission over 600-km SSMF fiber without either Raman amplification or dispersion compensation

High-purity chalcogenide glasses for fiber optics

Abstract: The data on the present degree of purity of chalcogenide glasses for fiber optics, on their methods of production and on the properties, which are essential for their actual application, are generalized. The content of limiting impurities in the best samples of chalcogenide glasses is 10–100 ppb wt.; of heterophase inclusions with size of about 100 nm is less than 103 cm−3. On the basis of chalcogenide glasses the multimode and single mode optical fibers are produced with technical and operation characteristics sufficient for a number of actual applications. The minimum optical losses of 12–14 dB/km at 3–5 µm are attained in the optical fiber from arsenic-sulfide glass. The level of losses in standard chalcogenide optical fibers is 50–300 dB/km in 2–9 µm spectral range. The factors, affecting the optical absorption of glasses and optical fibers, are analyzed, and the main directions in further development of chalcogenide glasses as the materials for fiber optics are considered.

Modular, high energy, widely-tunable ultrafast fiber source

Abstract: A modular, compact and widely tunable laser system for the efficient generation of high peak and high average power ultrashort pulses. Modularity is ensured by the implementation of interchangeable amplifier components. System compactness is ensured by employing efficient fiber amplifiers, directly or indirectly pumped by diode lasers. Peak power handling capability of the fiber amplifiers is expanded by using optimized pulse shapes, as well as dispersively broadened pulses. Dispersive broadening is introduced by dispersive pulse stretching in the presence of self-phase modulation and gain, resulting in the formation of high-power parabolic pulses. In addition, dispersive broadening is also introduced by simple fiber delay lines or chirped fiber gratings, resulting in a further increase of the energy handling ability of the fiber amplifiers. The phase of the pulses in the dispersive delay line is controlled to quartic order by the use of fibers with varying amounts of waveguide dispersion or by controlling the chirp of the fiber gratings. After amplification, the dispersively stretched pulses can be re-compressed to nearly their bandwidth limit by the implementation of another set of dispersive delay lines. To ensure a wide tunability of the whole system, Raman-shifting of the compact sources of ultrashort pulses in conjunction with frequency-conversion in nonlinear optical crystals can be implemented, or an Anti-Stokes fiber in conjunction with fiber amplifiers and Raman-shifters are used. A particularly compact implementation of the whole system uses fiber oscillators in conjunction with fiber amplifiers. Additionally, long, distributed, positive dispersion optical amplifiers are used to improve transmission characteristics of an optical communication system. Finally, an optical communication system utilizes a Raman amplifier fiber pumped by a train of Raman-shifted, wavelength-tunable pump pulses, to thereby amplify an optical signal which counterpropogates within the Raman amplifier fiber with respect to the pump pulses.

Optical Fiber/Nanowire Hybrid Structures for Efficient Three-Dimensional Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells†

Abstract: Renewable and green energy are the technological drivers of the future economy. Solar cells (SCs) are one of the most important sustainable energy technologies that have the potential to meet the world s energy demands. Among the various approaches to SCs, the performance of dyesensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is largely influenced by the surface area of adsorbed light-harvesting molecules. Traditional DSSCs utilize a nanoparticle film for enhancing the SC conversion efficiency. Photons absorbed by the dye monolayer create excitons that are rapidly split at the surface of the nanoparticles. After splitting, electrons are injected into the nanoparticles and holes move towards the opposite electrode by means of a redox species in an electrolyte. The surface area of the nanoparticle film and the effectiveness of charge collection by the electrodes determine the photovoltaic efficiency of the cell. The latter property has been improved by using aligned ZnO nanowire (NW) arrays, which provide direct electrical pathways for rapid collection of carriers generated throughout the device, and a full-sun efficiency of 1.5% has been demonstrated. However, the design is still based on a two-dimensional (2D) planar substrate, which has a relatively low surface area that limits the dye loading capacity and restricts mobility and adaptability for remote operation. Moreover, the increasing surface area is limited by the requirement that the electron transport distance d remains significantly smaller than the electron diffusion length Ln in order to minimize recombination of electrons with holes or other species. For wire-based SCs, in which light is illuminated perpendicular to the wire, the shadow effect from the entangled wire shaped electrode may limit the enhancement in power efficiency. We report herein an innovative hybrid structure that integrates optical fibers and nanowire (NW) arrays as threedimensional (3D) dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) that have a significantly enhanced energy conversion efficiency. The ZnO NWs grow normal to the optical fiber surface and enhance the surface area for the interaction of light with dye molecules. The light illuminates the fiber from one end along the axial direction, and its internal reflection within the fiber creates multiple opportunities for energy conversion at the interfaces. In comparison to the case of light illumination normal to the fiber axis from outside the device (2D case), the internal axial illumination enhances the energy conversion efficiency of a rectangular fiber-based hybrid structure by a factor of up to six for the same device. Furthermore, the absolute full-sun efficiency (AM 1.5 illumination, 100 mWcm ) is increased to 3.3%, which is 120% higher than the highest value reported for ZnO NWs grown on a flat substrate surface and 47% higher than that of ZnO NWs coated with a TiO2 film. This research demonstrates a new approach from 2D to 3D solar cells with advantages of high efficiency, expanded mobility, surface adaptability, and concealed/remote operation capability. The DSSC hybrid structure is an integrates optical fibers and ZnO NWs grown by a chemical approach on the fiber surfaces. The design principle is shown in Figure 1. The main structure consists of a bundle of quartz fibers arranged such

Dynamic strain measurement in optical fibers by stimulated Brillouin scattering.

Abstract: We present a technique for dynamic strain measurements in optical fibers based on the stimulated Brillouin scattering interaction between two counterpropagating optical pulses. The technique allows for a high sampling rate and permits to addressing dynamically and randomly the position at which vibration is measured. Preliminary experimental results carried out with a perturbation frequency up to 98 Hz demonstrate the validity of the proposed technique.

THz porous fibers: design, fabrication and experimental characterization

Abstract: Porous fibers have been identified as a means of achieving low losses, low dispersion and high birefringence among THz polymer fibers. By exploiting optical fiber fabrication techniques, two types of THz polymer porous fibers--spider-web and rectangular porous fibers--with 57% and 65% porosity have been fabricated. The effective refractive index measured by terahertz time domain spectroscopy shows a good agreement between the theoretical and experimental results indicating a lower dispersion for THz porous fiber compared to THz microwires. A birefringence of 0.012 at 0.65 THz is also reported for rectangular porous fiber.

Microstructured Polymer Optical Fibers

Abstract: The fabrication, materials, properties and applications of microstructured polymer optical fibers are reviewed. Microstructured polymer optical fibers formed the basis of extensive work on the physics of microstructured fibers, and an outline of the contribution to the wider field of microstructured fibers is also presented.

Low bend loss optical fiber

Abstract: Disclosed is a low bend loss optical fiber including: a core; an inner layer disposed at outside of the core, which has a refractive index lower than a refractive index of the core, the refractive index of the inner layer gradually decreasing as it becomes farther from the core; and a trench layer disposed at outside of the inner layer, which has a lowest refractive index.

Waveguide grating coupler with subwavelength microstructures.

Abstract: We propose a silicon waveguide-fiber grating coupler that uses a subwavelength microstructure to achieve a continuously variable grating strength yet can be fabricated using only a single etch step. By adjusting the subwavelength microstructure at every point along the grating, the grating coupler can be optimized to give high field overlap with the optical fiber mode and also minimize backreflections along the incident waveguide path. Our design example is optimized for quasi-TM mode in a silicon photonic-wire waveguide, as required for waveguide evanescent-field-sensing applications. A field overlap of up to 94% with a standard single-mode optical fiber (SMF-28) is achieved by coupler apodization. Backreflection from the grating is reduced to ~0.1%, and the total predicted photonic wire to fiber coupling efficiency is 50%.

Optical fiber cable and optical fiber ribbon

Abstract: Amono-coated optical fiber that has a bending loss characteristic in which an optical loss increase at a bending radius 13 mm is 0.2 dB/10 turn or less, an optical fiber ribbon that includes two-dimensionally disposed resin portions for bonding the adjacent 2-fiber mono-coated optical fibers in plural places, the resin portions being disposed apart from each other in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber ribbon and an optical fiber cable that includes a cable core portion that stores twisting of plural units where the mono-coated optical fibers constituting the optical fiber ribbon are collected.