The present invention relates to a method of producing an optical fiber grating and a production device therefor, and more particularly to a method of producing a super structure fiber Bragg grating and a production device therefor.
Since the room-temperature oscillations of semiconductor lasers became possible contemporaneously with the advent of low-loss optical fibers in the 1970's, various researches utilizing light have been actively made in the world. Especially the field of optical communications has progressed rapidly owing to the advent of optical amplifiers (EDFAs), and it is presently possible to realize transmission systems for ultralong-distance transmission (up to 10,000 km), ultrahigh-speed transmission (up to 40 Gb/s), wavelength division multiplexing transmission (WDM, up to 256 wavelengths), etc. Therefore, an optical-fiber information communication network is considered to be the most important infrastructure in the early part of the twenty-first century. At present, however, an optical-fiber communication system is used only for a trunk route loop chiefly having termination units in one-to-one correspondence, and a network part is principally constructed of conventional coaxial cables and semiconductor integrated circuits/electron devices. Owing to the tremendous progress of the Internet in recent years, the growth of a transmission capacity required of a network in the future is predicted to be double in 12 months. This situation exceeds so-called “Moore's law” (double in 18 months) concerning semiconductor integrated circuits. It may safely be said that a WDM optical network utilizing light, for example, will be necessitated also for the network part in due course. At present, however, optical devices for the WDM optical network are still immature, and it is an urgent necessity to develop the optical devices.
In such WDM technology, an optical filter, for example, becomes an indispensable device. As the optical filter for WDM optical communications, notice is taken of a super structure fiber Bragg grating (Super Structure FBG) which is one kind of optical fiber Bragg grating (FBG). Here, the “FBG (short for “Fiber Bragg Grating” indicating an optical-fiber diffraction grating)” is a device in which the core portion of an optical fiber is endowed with an index change having a period of wavelength order (up to 1 micron), and which exhibits a sharp wavelength-selective reflection characteristic. The index change is nondestructively attained by irradiating the optical fiber with an ultraviolet beam from outside this optical fiber. Besides, the structure of the wavelength-order period is attained by interference fringes formed by a phase mask, when the phase mask or the like is interposed in the irradiation with the ultraviolet beam. Since the FBG can be designed flexibly as compared with any other optical filter, an optical filter having functions not available before can be fabricated by contriving the diffraction grating. Since the diffraction grating whose refractive index is changed is formed directly in the optical fiber, the FBG has many advantages such as a low loss, a small size, a high reliability, and an affinity with an optical system based on optical fibers. The sharp wavelength-selective reflection characteristic of the FBG is utilized as being indispensable to the wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical-fiber communication technology in the field of optical communications. Moreover, since the reflection wavelength of the FBG exhibits strain and temperature dependencies, the FBG is utilized as a multiple high-resolution sensor for a strain or a temperature in the field of optical measurements.
Besides, the “SSFBG (Super Structure FBG)” is a device which is also called “sampled FBGs”, and in which short FBGs of the same period are arrayed at equal spacings. The SSFBG has a structure in which a periodic structure of several mm (=sampling structure) is superposed on the wavelength-order periodic structures of the FBGs. That is, the SSFBG is a comb-type reflection light filter which has sharp wavelength-selective reflection characteristics at equal spacings determined by the period of the sampling structure. Since the SSFBG can collectively filter lights of multiple wavelengths used in the WDM communications, it is suited to the wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical-fiber communications, and the price reduction and structural simplification of a WDM system can be expected.
However, some of FBGs theoretically proposed cannot be easily produced because of the limitations of production technology. One of the productional limitations is that the production of a long FBG is difficult. The super structure fiber Bragg grating (SSFBG) is an example of the long FBG. In order to broaden the band of the SSFBG and heighten the channel density thereof in adaptation to the WDM optical communications enlarging in capacity, along SSFBG whose total length is several cm to several tens cm is required. With a prior-art method, however, the length of the SSFBG is limited by the length of a phase mask, and hence, the production of the long SSFBG is difficult.
In view of the above drawback, the present invention has for its object to provide a production method and a production device for a super structure fiber Bragg grating as are not limited by a phase mask length.
According to the first solving means of the present invention, there is provided a method of producing an optical-fiber grating, comprising the step of:
According to the second solving means of the present invention, there is provided a production device for an optical-fiber grating, comprising:
1. Fabrication of FBG
An FBG needs to form a perturbation having a period of, for example, about 500 [nm], within the core of a fiber. A phase-mask method and a photosensitivity for realizing this perturbation will be described below.
Shown in
The intensity distribution of ultraviolet radiation having a predetermined period of, for example, 500 [nm] can be realized by the phase-mask method. The phase mask 102 in which a quartz substrate is formed with ruggedness of pitch d by electron-beam lithography as shown in the figure, is used in the phase-mask method. The ultraviolet beam 101 (UV beam) entered perpendicularly to the phase mask 102 is split into diffracted lights of +1st order and −1st order when passing through this phase mask 102, and the diffracted lights form interference fringes (intervals d/2). If the depth and shape of each groove are appropriate, 0th-order light (light transmitted directly) will become less than several %.
The advantages of the phase-mask method are that the same masks can be manufactured at a high reproducibility, and that even a laser of low temporal coherence is usable. Moreover, the phase-mask method is comparatively easier in alignment than any other method, and it is considered to be currently the optimal method for a KrF excimer laser which is employed as an example in this embodiment.
2. Detailed Production System
Shown in
The architecture includes a laser 1, a slit 2, a phase mask 3, a translation stage 4, an optical spectrum analyzer 5, an EDFA 6 and a circulator 7. An optical fiber 10 is fixed on the translation stage 4 in a manner to be concealed by the phase mask 3.
A high power density and a high interferability are desired of the laser 1 as an ultraviolet light source which is employed for changing the refractive index of the fiber. Here, a KrF excimer laser which generates ultraviolet light pulses is employed as an example. Incidentally, an ArF excimer laser, the SHG (second-harmonic generation) of an argon laser, a copper vapor laser, or the like may well be employed otherwise than the KrF excimer laser. The excimer laser or the copper vapor laser is a pulse laser, whereas the SHG of the argon laser is a continuous oscillation laser, and either may well be employed. By way of example, the KrF excimer laser employed in this embodiment has a wavelength of 248 nm, a pulse repetition frequency of 100 Hz, energy of about 55 mJ per pulse, and a beam diameter of 6×12 mm.
Also, by way of example, the slit 2 narrows an ultraviolet beam being 12 mm wide, into 0.3 mm, so as to irradiate the optical fiber with the narrowed beam through the phase mask. The phase mask 3 is, for example, one in which diffraction gratings are depicted at a pitch of about 0.5 micron on glass.
An optical fiber as stated below can be used as the fiber 10. By way of example, the fiber 10 should preferably be a fiber the ultraviolet-induced index change of which is large. Since the change is small in an ordinary optical fiber, it can be enhanced by hydrogenation (the optical fiber is let stand in high-pressure hydrogen for 1–2 weeks so as to be loaded with hydrogen). Besides, it is known that, as the Ge (germanium) doping amount of the core of the optical fiber is larger, the ultraviolet-induced index change is larger. It is therefore possible to use a heavily Ge-doped optical fiber for an FBG. The heavily Ge-doped optical fiber for an FBG as subjected to the hydrogenation is used in this embodiment. Alternatively, any of various fibers, such as a dispersion shifted fiber (DSF), a single-mode fiber (SMF) and a multi-mode fiber, can be used as the fiber 10.
Shown in
In this example, the phase mask 3 and the optical fiber 10 are fixed on an identical plate 8 so as to suppress relative vibrations. The plate 8 is fixed on the translation stage 4, and the movement magnitude of the translation stage 4 and the number of pulses are controlled, thereby to produce the FBG, the SSFBG or the like.
The way of the irradiation with the ultraviolet beam becomes as follows: When the uniform ultraviolet beam is caused to perpendicularly fall on the phase mask 3, diffracted lights of +1st order and −1st order based on the phase mask 3 create interference fringes of about 1 micron on the optical fiber. Owing to the ultraviolet-induced index change, a larger index change occurs in places where the interference fringes are intense, and a smaller index change occurs in places where the interference fringes are weak, so that the periodic structure of the refractive indices at about 1 micron (index diffraction gratings) is formed.
The clearer interference fringes are obtained by entering the parallel beam from the laser 1 into the phase mask 3 as stated above. As the ultraviolet beam or ultraviolet radiation pulses are projected, the gratings are formed in the core within the optical fiber 10. During the production, the ASE of the EDFA 6 being a wide-band light source is entered into the optical fiber 10, and the resulting reflected light is entered into the optical spectrum analyzer 5 via the circulator 7, whereby a reflected spectrum is monitored. Thus, the projection of the laser beam can be adjusted.
3. Phase Mask Scanning Method
First, the fundamentals of the SSFBG will be described. The conceptual view of the SSFBG is shown in
Shown in
Shown in
The characteristic diagram of the SSFBG is shown in
In this way, a reflection filter of comb type is formed as shown in the figure. The envelope width νB of comblike reflection spectra is inversely proportional to the length of each of the FBGs discretely produced, while the channel spacing νC is inversely proportional to the spacing Ls of the FBGs produced. In order to attain a narrower channel spacing, therefore, the FBGs need to be discretely produced at a larger spacing. Incidentally, a single FBG may well be produced, and as the number of FBGs is larger, the reflectivity becomes higher. When the reflectivity reaches one, the envelope width broadens. Here, each of the comblike reflection spectra shall be called a “channel”.
It is assumed by way of example that a super structure having a total length of 50 mm, a reflectivity of 100% and a channel spacing of 100 GHz be obtained. On this occasion, when it is intended to attain a channel spacing of 50 GHz, the grating spacing needs to be doubled, and the total length must be made 100 mm. Likewise, when the channel spacing is set at 33.3 GHz, the total length becomes 150 mm.
In this manner, the SSFBG is produced by discretely carving the FBGs. These FBGs must have a predetermined phasic relationship in their index modulation, and this is realized by discretely irradiating one fixed phase mask with the ultraviolet beam. Accordingly, the total length of the SSFBG is limited by the length of the phase mask. Next, a phase mask scanning method will be described as an SSFBG producing method which is not limited by the length of the phase mask.
Shown in
The practicable steps of the mask scanning will be explained below.
In the above, the relative position between the mask and the optical fiber is fixed, and the beam is allowed to scan, so that any SSFBG whose length exceeds the length of the mask cannot be depicted. Therefore, first of all, as in
This phase mask scanning method has been verified. An SSFBG of Lg=0.3 mm and Ls=3.0 mm was produced by employing a KrF excimer laser (248 nm) as a UV light source, and setting the pitch of a phase mask at 1074 nm.
Shown in
Next, the reflection spectrum diagrams of SSFBGs are shown in
4. Chirped-SSFBG
Although the ordinary SSFBG in which the FBGs having the same index modulation periods are discretely produced has been produced in the above embodiment, various SSFBGs can be produced with the phase-mask scanning method. A chirped-SSFBG, for example, can be produced especially easily. The “chirped-SSFBG” is such that FBGs whose index modulation frequencies are changed little by little are discretely produced. The frequencies themselves to be changed are endowed with a periodicity, whereby a comb-type reflection light filter of wide band can be realized. Besides, the chirped-SSFBG can be applied to a dispersion compensator for an optical fiber.
Next, comparisons will be made between the steps of producing the chirped-SSFBG based on the phase mask fixing method in the prior art and the steps of production based on the phase mask scanning method proposed this time. Shown in
With the phase mask fixing method in the prior art, a phase mask having the same length as that of the chirped-SSFBG to-be-produced is necessary, and the phase mask in which the period of diffraction gratings changes periodically as shown in
The long phase mask which is necessary for producing the ordinary SSFBG, the chirped-SSFBG or the like, undergoes errors in the periodicity of grooves (diffraction gratings) more or less at the fabrication stage thereof. This is ascribable to the limitation (stitching error) of the fabrication technology of phase masks at the current time. The designability of the SSFBG is worsened by the errors. In contrast, this embodiment employs the short phase mask and is therefore capable of producing the SSFBG by the phase mask in which the periodicity of grooves (diffraction gratings) is almost errorless. Also in this point, the phase mask scanning method is an effective SSFBG production method.
5. Multiple Phase Shift Method
Next, there will be described an SSFBG (MPS-SSFBG) which is based on a multiple phase shift (MPS-SSFBG=Multiple phase shift SSFBG) method. Although the MPS-SSFBG is a reflection comb-type filter likewise to the ordinary SSFBG, it consists in an epoch-making method which can realize the same characteristic with a length shorter than that of the prior-art SSFBG. Since an SSFBG is manufactured by discretely producing FBGs, the spacings of the individual FBGs become long in a high-density SSFBG of narrow channel spacings, and the corresponding parts become wasteful. In the MPS method of this embodiment, therefore, appropriate phase shifts are imparted between the FBGs, whereby channel spacings can be narrowed with FBG spacings held short, and an optical fiber can be efficiently used.
As stated before, the envelope width of comblike reflection spectra is inversely proportional to the length of each of the FBGs discretely produced, and the channel spacing is inversely proportional to the spacing of the FBGs produced. In order to attain a narrower channel spacing, the FBGs need to be discretely produced at a larger spacing. It is assumed by way of example that a super structure having a total length of 50 mm, a reflectivity of 100% and a channel spacing of 100 GHz be obtained. On this occasion, when it is intended to attain a channel spacing of 50 GHz, the grating spacing, namely, the FBG spacing needs to be doubled, and the total length must be made 100 mm. Likewise, when the channel spacing is set at 33.3 GHz, the total length becomes 150 mm.
In contrast, the MPS-SSFBG of this embodiment is such that the appropriate places of the ordinary SSFBG are endowed with the phaseshifts. It consists in a method in which channel spacings can be narrowed into high-density channels, without considerably lowering an overall reflectivity and with the total length of the SSFBG kept. That is, even when the channel spacing is narrowed as 100 GHz, 50 GHz and 33.3 GHz, the total length does not change.
The steps of designing the MPS-SSFBG will be described below. To begin with, the SSFBG in the embodiment as described before is designed on the basis of a channel spacing, a band, etc. which are to be attained. On this occasion, it is assumed that an SSFBG in which the spacing of individual FBGs is Ls, the length of each FBG is Ls, and the number of the FBGs is NFBG, and whose total length is LSSFBG (≈Lg]Ls×NFBG) have been produced. The ordinary SSFBG inevitably enlarges in its total length because the interspaces between the individual FBGs are not effectively utilized. Accordingly, steps required for integrating FBGs anew in such interspaces between the FBGs, thereby to realize the MPS-SSFBG and to make its total length 1/m (m=2, 3, . . . ), will be explained below.
First, the FBG spacing Ls attained by the preceding design is shortened to 1/m, and the NFBG FBGs are discretely produced, thereby to make the total length 1/m. In this state left intact, a channel spacing broadens m times. Therefore, the phase shift φk of the following equation is imparted between the kth FBG and (k+1)th FBG:
φk=2π(k−1)/m
(0≦k ≦NFBG).
When part of an optical fiber is irradiated with a uniform ultraviolet beam, the refractive index of the part changes uniformly, so that the optical length nL of the part changes, and the phase shift occurs. Here, the “phase shift” signifies that the phase rotation of light at the part changes (shifts). If each necessary phase shift amount, such as 0, 2π/3 or 4π/3, has been achieved, is determined while a reflection spectrum is being observed by employing an optical spectrum analyzer.
Here, the explanatory views of the refractive index and the phase shift in the axial direction of the optical fiber in the MPS-SSFBG are shown in
Sawlike phase shift amounts as shown in the figure are imparted in accordance with the above equation. When the phase shift amount to be imparted exceeds 2π, it can be turned back. Thus, the total length can be made 1/m with the channel spacing held as designed and with the reflectivity held substantially unchanged.
Next, explanatory views concerning SSFBGs and MIPS-SSFBGs are shown in
a) illustrates a case where each SSFBG has its original length and is not endowed with any phase shift.
Each of the MPS-SSFBGs has been verified. The MPS-SSFBG was produced in accordance with the phase mask fixing method by employing a KrF excimer laser (248 nm) as a UV light source. The MPS-SSFBG produced this time had m=2, Lg=0.3 [mm], Ls=3.0 [mm] and NFBG=15, and the pitch of a phase mask was 1074 [nm].
Shown in
Reflection spectra in that state before the phase shifts of π were completely imparted, namely, in an intermediate process, in which phase shifts of φk≈0, π/2, 0, π/2, 0, π/2, 0, π/2, . . . were imparted, are shown in
Shown in
When the MPS-SSFBG is adopted, the number of channels can be increased several times into a high-density SSFBG. Moreover, since the optical fiber and the phase mask can be effectively used, the MPS-SSFBG leads to curtailment in the cost of production. Owing to the recent enhancement of microfabrication technology, it is permitted to precisely endow a phase mask with phase shifts. Accordingly, an optical-fiber comb-type reflection filter of high-density channels can also be produced even by a short phase mask in such a way that the phase mask itself is endowed with the phase shifts which are imparted in producing the MPS-SSFBG.
In the above description, in order to bestow the optical fiber with the desired phase shifts, the laser output is adjusted while the optical spectrum analyzer is being observed. It is also possible to automatically execute the adjustment by a computer.
Another architectural diagram of a production device is shown in
The control unit 30 receives the measured result of the optical spectrum analyzer 5 as its input through an internal interface. Any or more of the output time, pulse energy, repetition frequency, beam size, etc. of the laser 1 is/are adjusted on the basis of the inputted reflectivity for the wavelength. Further, the control unit 30 can control the irradiation adjustment unit 40 so as to irradiate a predetermined position with the ultraviolet beam of the laser 1. Still further, the control unit 30 is capable of controlling the relative position between the phase mask 3 and the optical fiber 10 by subjecting the translation stages 4-1 and 4-2 to movement controls. Also, it is capable of performing the control of fixing the optical fiber 10. The movement of the phase mask to the predetermined position, the adjustment of the phase shift amount, the adjustment of the laser irradiation, etc. are controlled by such an architecture.
Next, the applications of the present invention will be exemplified below. The present invention is applicable to, for example, a multi-wavelength filter and multiplexing/demultiplexing in optical multiplex communications, and the gain equalization, dispersion compensation filter and gain equalizer of an ADM (add/drop multiplexer) optical amplifier for WDM communications. Besides, as a light source for optical communications, the present invention is applicable to the wavelength selection, wavelength stabilization and wavelength collection/dispersion warrant of a filter for a multi-wavelength light source or a laser such as semiconductor laser or fiber laser. Further, a large number of applications such as the measurements of a distortion, etc. are considered as a fiber sensor for the present invention.
According to the present invention, a production method and a production device for a super structure fiber Bragg grating as are not limited by a phase mask length can be provided as described above.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2001-194462 | Jun 2001 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/JP02/05210 | 5/29/2002 | WO | 00 | 1/28/2004 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO03/003084 | 1/9/2003 | WO | A |
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