Apparatus and method of bragg intra-grating strain control
US5694501A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 31, 1995 |
| Grant date | Dec 2, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 31, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02F2201/307
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for controlling the detailed strain field imposed on a guided-wave Bragg grating. The spectral and temporal form of radiant energy traveling down optical fibers is important in many fields, including communications and sensing. The spectral distribution and center wavelength of short optical pulses is of particular importance. In the communication field the information carrying capacity of an optical fiber can be limited by the dispersion experienced by short pulses as they propagate along an optical fiber. Chirped fiber optic intracore Bragg gratings can be used to compensate for this dispersion. However, a grating with a different degree of chirp would be required for each particular communication system. This control of the intra-grating strain distribution allows the grating to be tuned over a broad spectral range or chirped in a manner that permits it to compensate for a wide range of dispersion with or without a shift in the grating center wavelength. In addition, precise control of the strain distribution along a grating can be used to manufacture a variety of spectral filters.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.