Dynamics of thermal annealing of fiber gratings directly written by an infrared femtosecond laser

Abstract

The inscription of fibre Bragg gratings using infrared femtosecond laser offers a number of advantages over conventional methods based on UV inscription. The refractive index modification in femtosecond inscription is independent on defect formation and therefore should not experiment the defect-related thermal decay of UV inscribed gratings. In this paper, the response to thermal annealing of fiber Bragg gratings inscribed using a tightly focussed femtosecond laser is investigated. Experimental results reveal a vastly improve thermal stability compared to gratings inscribed using conventional methods based on UV light. Erasure was not observed until temperatures in the range between 900°C and 1000°. These devices are therefore particularly suited to work in hostile environments and as high temperature sensors.