Fiber Acousto-optic Tunable Filter Research Articles

Analysis of all fiber acousto-optic tunable filter based on superimposed fiber Bragg gratings

In this paper, an all fiber acousto-optic tunable filter based on superimposed fiber Bragg gratings (SFBG-AOTF) is demonstrated and studied. Compared to the normal fiber Bragg gratings based all fiber acousto-optic tunable filter, SFBG-AOTF can modulate the two optical resonant wavelengths of the gratings synchronously. The spectrum of SFBG-AOTF at various acoustic frequencies and under acoustically induced strains, has been analyzed theoretically. Based on simulation results, one can find that each order of the secondary reflection peak is symmetrical with respect to the two primary reflection peaks with SFBG as the center, and the resonant wavelength spacing between the primary reflection peak and the secondary reflection peak which is modulated by the former, is proportional to the acoustic frequency. But the resonant wavelength between the same order secondary reflection peaks which are modulated by two different primary reflection peaks, is independent of the acoustic frequency. The acoustically induced strains mainly affect the variation of the reflectivities of the primary and secondary reflection peaks. In the experiment, the spectra of SFBG-AOTF with acoustic frequencies of 390 and 710 kHz, are measured. The variation trend of the experimental results accords well with the simulated one.

All-fiber acousto-optic polarization monitor

We describe the operational principle of and experimentally demonstrate a narrowband, wavelength-tunable polarization monitor based on a fiber acousto-optic tunable filter. Two orthogonally vibrating acoustic waves are used to create a variable polarizer that can be used to measure the state of polarization of an incident narrowband light source. The accuracy of the polarization monitor is measured at two different wavelengths in reference to a commercial polarimeter and is shown to be within 5%.

A compact all-fiber PDL-compensated acoustooptic wavelength monitor

A compact all-fiber acoustooptic wavelength monitor with passive polarization-dependent loss (PDL) compensation is demonstrated. A Sagnac loop interferometer is used to compensate the intrinsic PDL, and hence, the polarization-dependent wavelength shift of the fiber acoustooptic tunable filter (AOTF). This increases the extrinsic wavelength accuracy of the device to 0.05 nm, a three-fold improvement from a previously reported uncompensated device. The relaxation in the PDL specifications for the AOTF also results in a reduction of fiber length from 38 to 14 cm.

Compensation of polarization-dependent loss in transmission fiber gratings by use of a Sagnac loop interferometer

We analyze the transmission characteristics of a Sagnac loop interferometer containing a polarization-dependent loss element and lossless polarization-converting elements by use of Jones matrices. We show that polarization independence in the transmission mode can be achieved in such a configuration and that maximum transmittance occurs when a half-wave plate is used for the polarization-converting element. The result is verified experimentally for a fiber acousto-optic tunable filter and cascaded long-period fiber gratings with either intrinsic or process-induced polarization-dependent filtering characteristics.

All-fiber wavelength-tunable acoustooptic switches based on intermodal coupling in fibers

In this paper, we demonstrate a novel all-fiber wavelength-tunable acoustooptic switch utilizing intermodal coupling in a two-mode fiber (TMF). Its all-fiber configuration consisting of a fiber acoustooptic tunable filter and a mode-selective coupler results in the low loss (<2 dB) operation. The operating bandwidth >50 nm, the switching time of 40 /spl mu/sec, and the crosstalk of 20 dB were achieved. By controlling the design parameters of the two-mode fiber, the 3-dB bandwidth of the switched signal was varied from 2.5 nm to >35 nm. A novel all-fiber dynamic optical add-drop multiplexer is also demonstrated using two acoustooptic switches in series.