Investigation of the power coupling of novel wavelength-selective couplers incorporating axially symmetric long-period fibre gratings

  • Ronnie Kritzinger Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Science, University of Johannesburg
  • Johan Meyer Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Science, University of Johannesburg
  • Johan Burger National Metrology Institute of South Africa
Keywords: evanescent-field coupling, wavelength-selective coupler, long-period fibre grating, coupling efficiency, multiplexer, fibre optics

Abstract

Evanescent-field coupling was studied experimentally in novel optical-fibre-based wavelength-selective couplers, using axially symmetric long-period fibre grating (LPFG) structures. The coupling characteristics of a wavelength-selective coupler at the resonant wavelength were investigated for different LPFG offset distances. It was shown that the wavelength-selective couplers effectively transferred light power at the LPFG resonant wavelength from one fibre to another. The performance of the couplers was consistent with simulations performed in MATLAB using coupled-mode theory.

Author Biographies

Ronnie Kritzinger, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Science, University of Johannesburg
Ronnie Kritzinger received the B.Eng degree in electrical engineering and B.Sc degree in information technology from the Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg, in 2002. In 2005 he obtained the M.Eng degree in electrical engineering from the University of Johannesburg. He obtained the D.Eng degree at UJ in 2010, where his primary research interest was optical communications for implementation in the telecommunications industry. He is currently working at Telkom SA as a Wireline Technology Strategist.
Johan Meyer, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Science, University of Johannesburg
Head of the Photonics Research Group
Johan Burger, National Metrology Institute of South Africa
Principal Scientist in Optical Frequency Standards and Photonics Technologies

References

1. Kashyap R. Fibre Bragg gratings. New York: Academic Press; 1999.

2. James SW, Tatam RP. Optical fibre long-period grating sensors: Characteristics and application. Meas Sci Technol. 2003;14:R49–R61. doi:10.1088/0957-0233/14/5/201

3. Giles CR, Mizrahi V. Low-loss add/drop multiplexers for WDM lightwave networks. Paper presented at: IOOC 1995. Proceedings of the International Conference on Integrated Optics and Optical Fiber Communication; 1995 June 26–30; Hong Kong, China. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press; 1995. p. 66–67.

4. Kashyap R, Armitage JR, Wyatt R, Davey ST, Williams DL. All-fibre narrowband reflection gratings at 1500 nm. Electron Lett. 1990;26:730–731. doi:10.1049/el:19900476

5. Kewitsch AS, Rakuljic GA, Willems PA, Yariv A. All-fiber zero-insertion-loss add drop filter for wavelength-division multiplexing. Opt Lett. 1998;23:106– 108. doi:10.1364/OL.23.000106, PMid:18084427

6. Baumann I, Seifert J, Nowak W, Sauer M. Compact all-fiber add-drop-multiplexer using fiber Bragg gratings. IEEE Photonics Technol Lett. 1996;8:1331–1333. doi:10.1109/68.536645

7. Grubsky V, Starodubov S, Feinberg J. Wavelength-selective coupler and add/drop multiplexer using long-period fibre gratings. Paper presented at: OFC 2000. Proceedings of the Optical Fiber Communication Conference; 2000 March 7–10; Baltimore, USA. New York: IEEE Xplore Digital Library; 2000. p. 28–30.

8. Chiang KS, Liu Y, Ng MN, Li S. Coupling between two parallel long-period fibre gratings. Electron Lett. 2000;36:1408–1409. doi:10.1049/el:20001014

9. Vengsarkar AM, Lemaire PJ, Judkins JB, Bhatia V, Erdogan T, Sipe JE. Long-period fibre gratings as band-rejection filters. J Lightwave Technol. 1996;14:58–65. doi:10.1109/50.476137

10. Zhu Y, Chao L, Lacquet BM, Swart PL. Wavelength-tuneable add/drop multiplexer for DWDM using long-period gratings and fibre stretchers. Opt Commun. 2002;208:337–344. doi:10.1016/S0030-4018(02)01634-6

11. Liu Y, Chiang KS, Rao YJ, Ran ZL, Zhu T. Light coupling between two parallel CO2-laser written long-period fiber gratings. Opt Express. 2007;15:17645–17651. doi:10.1364/OE.15.017645, PMid:19551060

12. Chiang KS, Chan FYM, Ng MN. Analysis of two parallel long-period fiber gratings. J Lightwave Technol. 2004;22:1358–1366. doi:10.1109/JLT.2004.825357

13. Liu Y, Chiang KS. Broadband optical coupler based on evanescent-field coupling between three parallel long-period fiber gratings. IEEE Photonics Technol Lett. 2006;18:229–231. doi:10.1109/LPT.2005.861534

14. Erdogan T. Fibre grating spectra. J Lightwave Technol. 1997;15:1277–1294. doi:10.1109/50.618322

15. Keiser G. Optical fiber communications. Singapore: McGraw-Hill; 2000.

16. Buck JA. Fundamentals of optical fibre. New York: Wiley; 1995.

17. Shu X, Zhang L, Bennion I. Sensitivity characteristics of long-period fibre gratings. J Lightwave Technol. 2002;20:255–266. doi:10.1109/50.983240

18. Fibercore Limited. PS1250/1500 Photosensitive SMF: Product factnote [document on the Internet]. c2009 [cited 2009 June 5]. Available from: http://www.fibercore.com/Portals/0/PropertyAgent/412/Files/12/PS%20Fiber.pdf

19. Patrick HJ, Kersey AD, Bucholtz F. Analysis of the response of long-period fiber gratings to external index of refraction. J Lightwave Technol. 1998;16:1606–1612. doi:10.1109/50.712243

20. Chiang KS, Liu Y, Ng MN, Dong X. Analysis of etched long-period fibre gratings and its response to external refractive index. Electron Lett. 2000;36:966–967. doi:10.1049/el:20000701

21. Grubsky V and Starodubov D, inventors; Sabeus Photonics, assignee. Wavelength-selective optical fiber components using cladding-mode assisted coupling. United States patent 6360038. 2002 Mar 19.

22. Xu J, inventor; Aster Corporation, assignee. Fiber optic coupler. United States patent 4923268. 1990 May 8.

23. Kritzinger R, Schmieder D, Booysen A. Azimuthally symmetric long-period fibre grating fabrication with a TEM01∗-mode CO2 laser. Meas Sci Technol. 2009;20(3):034004. doi:10.1088/0957-0233/20/3/034004
Published
2011-05-13
Issue
Vol 107 No 5/6 (2011): South African Journal of Science
Section
Research Articles