title: CO(2) laser writing of long-period fiber gratings in optical fibers under tension.
abstract: We demonstrate experimentally that the efficiency of writing a long-period fiber grating in a single-mode fiber by CO(2) laser pulses increases significantly with the axial stress applied along the fiber. We attribute the enhancement in writing efficiency to the generation of nonuniform inelastic frozen-in strains across the fiber under tension by CO(2) laser heating. Controlling the axial stress distribution along a fiber during the CO(2) laser writing process thus provides an additional degree of freedom for control of the grating characteristics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. eeksc@cityu.edu.hk
authors.forename: Yunqi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Kin Seng
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Chiang