Chirped polymer optical fiber Bragg grating sensors

Abstract

We report chirped fiber Bragg gratings (CFBGs) photo-inscribed in undoped PMMA polymer optical fibre (POF) for the first time. The chirped polymer optical fiber Bragg gratings (CPOFBGs) were inscribed using an UV KrF excimer laser operating at 248 nm. The rectangular gauss laser beam was expanded to 25 mm in horizontal direction along the fiber core by a cylindrical lens, giving a total of 25 mm grating length. A 25 mm long chirped phase mask chosen for 1550 nm grating inscription was used. The laser frequency was 1 Hz with an energy of 5 mJ per exposure, exposing few pulses for each grating inscription. The reflection amplitude spectrum evolution of a CPOFBG is investigated as a function of the applied strain and temperature. Also, some results regarding to group delay are collected and discussed. These results pave the way to further developments in different fields, where POFs could present some advantages preferably replacing their silica counterparts.