title: Polymer micro-fiber Bragg grating.
abstract: Polymer micro-fibers with inscribed Bragg gratings are reported in this Letter. Starting with a single-mode polymer optical fiber and implementing a two-stage tapering process, a 16 μm diameter micro-fiber is fabricated and a Bragg grating is inscribed in it that exhibits a peak reflected wavelength circa 1530 nm. The growth dynamics of the polymer micro-fiber Bragg grating are also observed and analyzed. A maximum reflectivity of 5% is obtained after an exposure time of 3 min to a 50 mW power He-Cd laser of 325 nm wavelength. The temperature and strain characterization results of the micro-fiber Bragg grating with different diameters are also presented. Such polymer micro-fiber Bragg gratings can be used as sensors for high-sensitivity measurements in a number of application areas.
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, University of New South Wale, Sydney, Australia. ginu.rajan@unsw.edu.au
authors.forename: Ginu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rajan
authors.forename: Muhammad Yusof Mohd
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Noor
authors.forename: Nigel H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Lovell
authors.forename: Eliathamby
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ambikaizrajah
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Farrell
authors.forename: Gang-Ding
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Peng
mesh_terms: D055100:Optical Fibers; D055620:Optical Phenomena; D011108:Polymers; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers