M.Phil. (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) / A numerical model of an Erbium-Ytterbium co-doped distributed feedback (DFB) fiber laser is developed. The DFB fiber laser is a short length fiber laser whose feedback is distributed throughout the cavity. Its main advantage is its single longitudinal mode operation. The amplifying medium of a DFB fiber laser is a few centimetres long rare earth doped fiber. The feedback is obtained by a fibre Bragg grating printed in the core of the rare earth doped fiber. This type of laser emits naturally in two longitudinal modes. To obtain the single longitudinal mode operation, a π phase shift is introduced in the middle of the grating. Erbium doped DFB fiber lasers present the advantage of emitting single frequency light in the 1550 nm region where telecommunication fibers present the minimum loss. However due to the relatively short length of the gain medium, the number of available Erbium ions is small; as a result pump power absorption is low and the efficiency of the fiber laser is strongly reduced. The straightforward solution to this problem could be increasing the concentration of Erbium ions. This solution however has the disadvantage of increasing the Erbium ions interactions, thus leading to detrimental effect like cooperative upconversion and excited state absorption, which in term reduce considerably the laser efficiency. The best solution is to use Ytterbium ions as sensitizers along with Erbium ions to enhance the pump absorption, hence the efficiency of the laser. A model of the DFB fiber laser is an indispensable tool for its design, because it allows one to predict characteristic behaviour that would be both difficult and costly to deduce in laboratory conditions. The model developed in this project is based on rate equations of the Er3+-Yb3+ gain medium and coupled mode equations describing the laser field propagation in the fibre Bragg grating structure. The equations are solved using a quasi-analytical iterative method along with transfer matrix method with appropriate boundary conditions. The quasianalytical method used in this thesis is more robust than numerical solutions because it does not require providing an initial guess on the solution. Furthermore this method is hundreds time faster than the exact numerical solution while giving almost similar results.

Fiber Bragg grating sensors have been constantly researched for the last ten years and have finally begun to find use in the commercial market. However, one of the major factors limiting their widespread use is their system cost. Their lightweight, flexibility, electromagnetic immunity, and small size make fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors feasible in hostile environments where electrical and mechanical sensors may not function effectively. These sensor systems utilize moderately expensive light sources and detectors at telecommunication wavelengths of 1300 nm and 1550 nm. These are the center wavelengths of the mass-produced FBGs and FBG phase masks. This thesis addresses the development of a lower cost short wavelength fiber Bragg grating strain sensor system using gratings written at 790 nm and 850 nm with the modified phase mask method recently developed at Oregon State University. Short wavelength gratings allow the use of less expensive semiconductor sources and silicon detectors, greatly reducing the overall cost of a strain sensor system from approximately $1600 for a 1300 nm system to $1000 for a 790 nm system. First, the fundamental properties and historical background of fiber Bragg gratings were reviewed. Followed by a literature review of the structures, fabrication methods, and applications of FBGs including sensor applications. The design, manufacture, and assembly of the new short wavelength strain sensor system were described including the production of pigtailed super-luminescent edge emitting light emitting diodes (SELED) from commercial laser diodes, a fiber recoater, and multiple attempts to write a fiber Bragg grating in the 750-850 nm wavelength region. Finally, the short wavelength strain sensor system was compared with a 1300 nm strain sensor detailing the potential cost savings with the short wavelength system. / Graduation date: 2003

At the heart of the field of photonics is the control of the reflection and transmission of light. Plasmonics looks at this problem of control of electromagnetic radiation in the context of surface plasmon polaritons (SPP). SPPs are propagating electromagnetic modes localized at the interfaces between media with positive and negative permittivities. Their excitation can accompany the enhancement of transmission, reflection, or absorption of EM radiation. There are a number of ways to excite SPPs and this work looks at several geometries and analyzes the transmission and reflection characteristics using a numerical approach based on the finite element method.<p> The first method of excitation is by incident evanescent wave that was totally internally reflected from an earlier interface. It is shown that an evanescent wave can excite SPPs and create resonant transmisison. It is also found that high values of dissipation limit transmission and instead create resonant absorption. The second method involves the modulation of the negative permittivity of the plasma slab itself. Numerical results are compared to analytical ones and are in good agreement because harmonics of the solution above the first are negligible. An investigation of transmission through a plasma slab with a single thin diffraction grating placed nearby follows. Analytical and numerical calculations show that a single thin grating is sufficient to create transmission resonance. It is found that for large values of diffraction grating modulation parameter, higher harmonics, usually not accounted for in analytical solutions, results in discrepancies between analytical and numerical results. The next geometry considered is of a plasma layer with only part of it having modulated permittivity. The presence of modulation of only part of the plasma layer is shown to create transmission and reflection resonances. By tailoring parameters of the system, it is shown how the resonant frequencies can be shifted. The final geometry considers a copper grating beside a plasma and transmission of a radio frequency wave. Even though the copper used here in this simulation is very absorbing, there are ranges of frequencies when transmission or reflection are enhanced.

At the heart of the field of photonics is the control of the reflection and transmission of light. Plasmonics looks at this problem of control of electromagnetic radiation in the context of surface plasmon polaritons (SPP). SPPs are propagating electromagnetic modes localized at the interfaces between media with positive and negative permittivities. Their excitation can accompany the enhancement of transmission, reflection, or absorption of EM radiation. There are a number of ways to excite SPPs and this work looks at several geometries and analyzes the transmission and reflection characteristics using a numerical approach based on the finite element method.<p> The first method of excitation is by incident evanescent wave that was totally internally reflected from an earlier interface. It is shown that an evanescent wave can excite SPPs and create resonant transmisison. It is also found that high values of dissipation limit transmission and instead create resonant absorption. The second method involves the modulation of the negative permittivity of the plasma slab itself. Numerical results are compared to analytical ones and are in good agreement because harmonics of the solution above the first are negligible. An investigation of transmission through a plasma slab with a single thin diffraction grating placed nearby follows. Analytical and numerical calculations show that a single thin grating is sufficient to create transmission resonance. It is found that for large values of diffraction grating modulation parameter, higher harmonics, usually not accounted for in analytical solutions, results in discrepancies between analytical and numerical results. The next geometry considered is of a plasma layer with only part of it having modulated permittivity. The presence of modulation of only part of the plasma layer is shown to create transmission and reflection resonances. By tailoring parameters of the system, it is shown how the resonant frequencies can be shifted. The final geometry considers a copper grating beside a plasma and transmission of a radio frequency wave. Even though the copper used here in this simulation is very absorbing, there are ranges of frequencies when transmission or reflection are enhanced.

Long-period fiber gratings (LPFGs) are typically fabricated by exposing photosensitive optical fiber to ultraviolet light. However, LPFGs can be fabricated by a variety of other techniques, including exposure to carbon-dioxide (CO2) laser light. The physical process by which the refractive-index change is induced in an optical fiber during exposure to CO2 laser light gives CO2-laser-induced LPFGs unique properties when compared to more traditional LPFGs fabricated by exposure to UV light. As such, CO2-laser-induced LPFGs respond differently to external perturbations and useful behavior has been observed, including variable attenuation tuning at a constant wavelength and wavelength tuning at constant amplitude with applied flexure. In order to manipulate, harness, and enhance the unique features of CO2-laser-induced LPFGs, it is necessary to understand their physical properties and optical characteristics. The main objectives of the research presented in this thesis are to quantify experimentally the optical performance of CO2-laser-induced LPFGs with respect to flexure, torsion, and variable incident polarization, to characterize grating cross-sectional refractive-index profiles, and to demonstrate applications of CO2-laser-induced LPFGs that exploit their unique properties. As part of the investigation of the effects of asymmetry, the fabrication and basic transmission characteristics of CO2-laser-induced LPFGs were examined. The polarization-dependent transmission characteristics, specifically polarization-dependent loss and polarization mode dispersion, of CO2-laser-induced LPFGs were investigated. The unique behavior of the gratings in response to applied flexure and applied torsion was also explored. Example variable optical attenuator, optical tunable filter, and fiber-to-waveguide coupler devices illustrate the potential advantages of the asymmetric index profile present in CO2-laser-induced LPFGs for certain applications. A new cross-sectional refractive-index profiling technique was presented that enables measurement of profiles containing small and irregular index variations. The profiling technique was used to measure the cross-sectional refractive-index profiles of optical fiber exposed to CO2 laser light. Future areas of research concerning CO2-laser-induced LPFGs were identified and discussed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 166-169).

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Victoria University (Melbourne, Vic.), 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.