The widespread adoption of wavelength division multiplexing to increase the
bandwidth of optical fiber communication systems has provided a major impetus for
research on low cost, single-mode, wavelength stable tunable diode lasers for use in
optical telecommunications due to the large volume of lasers required. Other
applications, such as demodulation of fiber Bragg grating sensor systems can also
make use of inexpensive tunable laser diodes. In addition, the steady increase in the
amount of computational power available has led to the widespread use of computers
to model physical systems both to predict system performance and to gain insight into
physical behavior.
Following a brief review of the application and construction of optical fiber
Bragg gratings and a discussion of diode lasers and common methods of tuning diode
laser wavelengths, a coupled-cavity approach to modeling laser diode output spectra,
the construction of a fiber Bragg grating wavelength tunable laser, and the coupled
cavity model of the fiber Bragg grating wavelength tunable diode laser are detailed.
The physical laser system consists of a commercial Fabry-Perot diode laser with a
cavity length of 300 microns, antireflection coated with a single layer of SiO, and
coupled into an optical fiber containing a fiber Bragg grating. Wavelength tuning is
accomplished by applying axial strain to the fiber grating. The coupled cavity model
directly includes the antireflection coating, includes the fiber Bragg grating as an
index step, and is the first reported implementation of this method to model fiber
Bragg grating coupled laser diodes. The measured output spectra of the physical laser
diode system and the calculated output spectra are given and compared. Continuous
tuning of the diode laser by applying axial strain to the fiber grating is not observed
nor calculated to occur for a single-layer silicon monoxide antireflection coating. To
achieve continuous wavelength tuning, better antireflection coatings will need to be
developed. / Graduation date: 2004
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/30798 |
| Date | 27 August 2003 |
| Creators | Winz, Michele W. |
| Contributors | Plant, Thomas K. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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