title: Growth dynamics of chemical composition gratings in fluorine-doped silica optical fibers.
abstract: The refractive-index modulation of chemical composition gratings in fluorine-germanium-doped silica fibers as a function of thermal treatment during manufacturing has been studied. The final grating strength was found to depend strongly on an intermediate annealing step, with an optimum temperature near 600-700 degrees C, before development at a fixed temperature of 1000 degrees C. Low-temperature treatment, aimed at removing any remaining hydrogen from the fiber, performed at 100 degrees C for 20 h before the annealing step, also significantly increased the final refractive-index modulation.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fokine