ECT 413

OPTICAL FIBER COMMUNICATION

Module V
Fiber Grating Filters
A grating is an important element in WDM systems for combining and
separating individual wavelengths.
Basically, a grating is a periodic structure or perturbation in a material.
This variation in the material has the property of reflecting or transmitting
light in a certain direction depending on the wavelength.
Thus, gratings can be categorized as either reflecting or transmitting
gratings.
Fiber Grating Filters
Grating Basics
Fiber Grating Filters
Grating Basics
Fiber Bragg Grating(FBG)
A Bragg grating constructed within an optical fiber constitutes a high-
performance device for accessing individual wavelengths in the closely
spaced spectrum of dense WDM systems.
Since this is an all-fiber device, its main advantages are low cost, low loss
(around 0.3 dB), ease of coupling with other fibers, polarization insensitivity,
low temperature coefficient and simple packaging.
A fiber grating is a narrowband reflection filter that is fabricated through a
photoimprinting process.
The technique is based on the observation that germanium-doped silica
fiber exhibits high photosensitivity to ultraviolet light.
Fiber Bragg Grating(FBG)
Fiber Bragg Grating(FBG)
Fiber Bragg Grating(FBG)
The grating fabrication is accomplished by means of two ultraviolet beams
transversely irradiating the fiber to produce an interference pattern in the
core.
Here, the regions of high intensity (denoted by the shaded ovals) cause an
increase in the local refractive index of the photosensitive core, whereas it
remains unaffected in the zero-intensity regions.
A permanent reflective Bragg grating is thus written into the core. When a
multi-wavelength signal encounters the grating, those wavelengths that are
phase-matched to the Bragg reflection condition are reflected and all others
are transmitted.
Fiber Bragg Grating(FBG)
Fiber Bragg Grating(FBG)
FBG Applications
FBG Applications
Tunable Optical Filters
Tunable optical filters are key components for dense WDM optical networks.
Two main technologies to make a tunable filter are MEMS-based and Bragg-
grating-based devices.
MEMS actuated filters have the advantageous characteristics of a wide
tuning range and design flexibility.
One such filter is a tunable variation on the classical structure that has been
used widely for interferometer applications.
The MEMS-based device consists of two sets of epitaxially grown
semiconductor layers that form a single Fabry-Perot cavity.
The device operation is based on allowing one of the two mirrors to be
moved precisely by an actuator.
Tunable Optical Filters