title: All-optical, thermo-optical path length modulation based on the vanadium-doped fibers.
abstract: This paper presents an all-fiber, fully-optically controlled, optical-path length modulator based on highly absorbing optical fiber. The modulator utilizes a high-power 980 nm pump diode and a short section of vanadium-co-doped single mode fiber that is heated through absorption and a non-radiative relaxation process. The achievable path length modulation range primarily depends on the pump's power and the convective heat-transfer coefficient of the surrounding gas, while the time response primarily depends on the heated fiber's diameter. An absolute optical length change in excess of 500 µm and a time-constant as short as 11 ms, were demonstrated experimentally. The all-fiber design allows for an electrically-passive and remote operation of the modulator. The presented modulator could find use within various fiber-optics systems that require optical (remote) path length control or modulation.
authors.affiliation: University of Maribor, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Laboratory for electro-optics and sensor systems, Smetanova 17, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Ziga
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Matjasec
authors.forename: Stanislav
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Campelj
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Donlagic
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D053844:Lasers, Solid-State; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013685:Telecommunications / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014639:Vanadium / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D014639:Vanadium