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Introduction to Fibre
Bragg Gratings
51
5.1
Fibre gratings allow the transfer of power between modes of an optical fibre. This is
achieved by perturbing the phase of one mode such that it matches the phase of the
other, phase matching condition. Fibre gratings are usually written in bare fibres
where the acrylate coating is removed. This means the optical fibre behaves like a
three-layer structure with different effective refractive indexes in the core, n1, and
the cladding, n2, with a final outer cladding being air, n3=1. For a single mode fibre
with these parameters the core-guided mode has a propagation constant co given by,
2
n 2 < co =
n co <
n1
(5.1)
and the cladding modes that are guided by the cladding-air structure have
propagation constants that fall in the range:
2
n 3 < cl <
n2
(5.2)
and finally there are radiation modes that can have propagation constants in the
limit:
n3
(5.3)
With the introduction of a periodic variation of the effective index along the fibre
length, the first order phase matching between the fundamental and backward
propagating fibre modes (fundamental or cladding modes) occurs when [76]:
1 2 =
(5.4)
52
For the case of coupling into the backward propagating fundamental mode, 2=-1
and the resonance condition yields:
1 =
(5.5)
In expressions (5.4) and (5.5) is the period of the effective index modulation and
1, 2 are respectively, the propagation constants of the fundamental mode and the
mode the reflected light is coupled into. Gratings that couple to backward
propagating modes are known as reflection or Bragg gratings. Typically these
devices are based on coupling between the forward and backward fundamental
modes.
Figure 5.1 Schematic representation of the modes existing in uncoated single mode fibres
and the matching condition for the core mode reflection.
For long period gratings (both 1 and 2 are positive) the phase condition for
forward coupling from the fundamental mode into forward propagating cladding
modes is given by:
1 2 =
(5.6)
53
5.2
This section describes a simple approach for obtaining the spectral properties of
fibre Bragg gratings. For an extensive review of the theory and properties of fibre
Bragg gratings the references [77-79] are suggested.
(5.7)
the functions n(z) and (z) are slowly varying functions compared to the grating
period , n0 is the refractive index of the core, and n(z) the envelope of the
refractive index modulation. The parameter, (z), defines locally, the phase of the
effective index modulation, which is used to describe phase shifts or grating chirp.
For simplicity this introduction will consider unchirped gratings only, therefore
(z)=0. Along the grating the forward propagating wave, v1, and backward
propagating wave, v2, are related by the coupled mode equations [80]:
dv1
= iv1 + iq( z )v 2
dz
dv 2
= +iv 2 iq * ( z )v1
dz
(5.8)
where the amplitudes of the waves v1 and v2 are related to the amplitudes of the
forward and backward propagating electric field, A(z) and B(z) respectively:
54
A( z ) = v1e iz
B( z ) = v 2 e +iz
(5.9)
q( z ) =
2n 0
n ( z )
(5.10)
and represents the detuning from the Bragg grating resonance wavelength,
Bragg=2n0, defined as:
n0
(5.11)
In the case of Bragg gratings where n varies along the grating length the spectral
characteristics can be obtained by solving the differential coupled mode equations
(5.8). The particular case of a uniform grating has been solved analytically [81], the
reflection coefficient =v1()/v2() and reflectivity R=||2 at the start of the grating
(z=0) are:
( ) =
q sinh(L)
sinh(L) + i cosh(L)
(5.12)
R( ) =
sinh 2 (L)
cosh 2 (L) 2 q 2
(5.13)
where 2=q22 .
55
Some important features can be inferred from these results. Firstly it can be
demonstrated that the maximum reflectivity Rmax occurs when the resonance
condition is observed, i.e., =0 and is given by
Rmax = tanh 2 ( qL)
(5.14)
and secondly the spectral bandwidth, zeros, defined as the two first zeros in
reflectivity calculated using (5.13) yielding [78]:
zeros
Bragg
n
=
1+
n0
nL
(5.15)
n
n0
(5.16)
and for weak gratings where nL<<Bragg the normalised bandwidth is approximated
by:
zeros
Bragg
n0 L
(5.17)
When writing gratings in fibres, equation (5.15) provides useful information about
the induced effective index change simply by measuring the spectral bandwidth of
the grating. Similarly for uniform gratings, the induced refractive index change can
also be calculated using (5.14), by measuring the maximum reflectivity at the Bragg
wavelength.
56
d
d
2 d
2c d
(5.18)
and the effective length, leff, that light at a particular wavelength travels within the
grating before it returns to the origin can be calculated from leff=c/n0. In uniform
gratings, the minimum time delay occurs at the Bragg wavelength. For wavelengths
near the edges of the grating bandwidth and the sidelobes of the reflectivity, the
dispersion is greatest with the time delay varying rapidly with wavelength. Thus,
large time delays are characteristic of this regime and are due to these wavelengths
suffering multiple reflections before exiting the grating (as in a Fabry-Perot cavity).
Figure 5.2 shows the reflectivity spectrum and the time delay for a uniform grating
with a strength, qL=4, and a grating length of L=20mm. The maximum reflectivity,
which can be calculated from (5.14), corresponds to the minimum time delay. For
wavelengths near the first reflectivity zeros, the time delay is maximum
corresponding to several round-trips before the light exists the grating.
57
500
400
0.8
300
0.6
200
0.4
100
0.2
0
1549.75
1549.85
1549.95 1550.05
Wavelength (nm)
1550.15
Reflectivity
0
1550.25
Figure 5.2 - Calculated reflection spectra (dotted line) and group delay (solid line) for a
uniform grating with qL=4.
5.3
Apodisation
58
(5.19)
59
Uniform
Reflectivity (dB)
-20
-40
sin
-60
Blackman
-80
1549.8
1549.9
1550
1550.1
Wavelength (nm)
1550.2
Figure 5.3 Reflectivity spectrum of gratings with different apodisations. Black line:
Uniform apodised grating; Blue line: Blackman apodised grating; Red line: sine2 apodised
grating.
35
30
25
20
Blackman
sin
15
10
Uniform
5
0
1549.8
1549.9
1550
1550.1
Wavelength (nm)
1550.2
Figure 5.4 Penetration depth spectrum of the same gratings as in Figure 5.3.
5.4
60
Transfer Matrix
For modelling the spectral properties of gratings with arbitrary apodisation and chirp
profiles, a simple method exists, whereby the grating is described using N sub
matrices representing N uniform sections of the grating; these matrices are then
multiplied to obtain the total grating response [78, 83]. The solution of the
propagation equation (5.8) for a uniform medium of length z and constant coupling
coefficient q can be expressed in terms of the well-known transfer matrix [78], MT:
1 ( z + z, )
( z, )
= MT 1
2 ( z + z, )
1 ( z, )
q
cosh( sz ) i sinh( sz )
sinh( sz )
s
s
MT =
sinh( sz )
cosh( sz ) + i sinh( sz )
s
Where s=|q|22. The output amplitudes of the entire grating can be found by
multiplying the transfer matrices correspondent to each of the N individual sections:
1 ( L)
(0)
;
= MT 1
2 ( L)
1 (0)
M T = M TN M TN 1 ... M T1
M S (z ) =
cosh( q z )
q
sinh( q z )
q
q*
sinh( q z )
q
cosh( q z )
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The propagation along the grating has also to be taken into account. The propagation
matrix MP(z,), is calculated taking MT in the limit |q|0 giving:
M P (z , ) =
e iz
0
0
e
+ iz
The transfer matrix MT can be approximated with an error O(3) in terms of these
two matrices as:
MT M P
5.5
z
z
, M S (z )M P
, .
2
2
Photosensitivity
62
discussions and is out of the context of this thesis. For good reviews concerning the
photosensitization process, readers are referred to [86-88].
5.6
Summary
A brief introduction to fibre Bragg gratings was presented in this section. The phase
matching between forward and backward propagating fundamental fibre modes can
be achieved with a periodic variation of the effective index. The interaction is
quantified using the well known coupled mode equations. Analytical solutions for
these equations exist for the simplest case of a uniform grating. For useful devices
with low side lobes, in order to accurately discriminate between adjacent channels,
different fibre apodisations are used. The spectral response of gratings with arbitrary
apodisations is obtained by solving the coupled mode equations using an efficient
scattering matrix model. The concept of time delay and penetration depth of light in
the grating were introduced as well in order to optimise the performance of add-drop
multiplexers based on gratings inscribed in the waist of fibre couplers, discussed in
chapter 8.