Index profiling of three-dimensional optical waveguides by the propagation-mode near-field method

The refractive-index profiles of a single-mode fiber and a three-dimensional waveguide are measured by the propagation-mode near-field method. This paper describes the method applied to anisotropic waveguides. The near-field pattern is observed by vidicons, and the index profile is calculated from the measured data. The light transfer characteristic of an infrared vidicon is measured and the intensity data from the infrared vidicon is corrected for the power-law response.     

Single-polarization single-mode optical fibers

Strictly speaking, an ordinary axially symmetrical single-mode fiber is a "two-mode" fiber because two orthogonally polarized HE11modes can be propagated in it. This fact results in the instability of the polarization state of the propagated mode when geometrical perturbation exists in the fiber, and also the so-called polarization mode dispersion. These are harmful in some applications of single-mode fibers to communication and measurement. To prevent these adverse effects, single-polarization single-mode (SPSM) optical fibers have been developed. Three basic types of the SPSM fiber are elliptical-core fiber, stress-induced birefringent fiber, and side-pit fiber. This paper describes the principles of these three types, performance obtained experimentally, theoretical approaches, and measurement techniques related to the SPSM fibers. Finally, relevant technical tasks in the future are mentioned.     

用扫描近场光学显微镜观察微畴

本文利用反射式扫描近场光学显微镜观察了硫酸三甘氨酸 [(NH3CH2 COOH) 3·H2 SO4 ) ](简称TGS)晶体的电畴结构和铝酸镧晶体的孪晶畴。横向分辨率约为 5 0nm。对原有的TopometrixAuroraNSOM系统作了较大的改进。采用音叉 (tuningfork)检测光纤探针与样品间的剪切力取代了原有的光学法振动检测。对TGS的观察说明 ,反射式扫描近场光学显微镜适合研究垂直B轴切割的TGS( 0 1 0 )面的自发极化。对这种 1 80°极化的多畴 ,可获得光学衬度较好的电畴分布图像。与形貌图像相比电畴与形貌无关。无论是新鲜解理的原子级光滑表面和表面水解的较为粗糙表面均可观察到分布较为均匀的电畴分布。采用探针发光的透射式和反射式观察铝酸镧晶体 ,发现只有反射式探测能够给出晶体表面的孪晶畴     

Correction factors for the determination of optical-fibre refractive-index profiles by the near-field scanning technique

Numerical calculations are presented of the correction factor for use with the near-field scanning method of index profile determination. It is shown that a single curve can be applied to a range of possible profiles, and a numerically obtained average curve is given.     

Fusion splices for single-mode optical fibers

A practical low loss splicing method based on the discharge fusion for single-mode fibers was developed. Average splice losses of 0.4, 0.2, and 0.1 dB for fibers with 5.2, 7, and 10 μm core diameters, respectively, are obtained by a simple apparatus utilizing the self-alignment effect due to the surface tension of melted fiber ends. The surface tension effect is analyzed both experimentally and theoretically. Experimental splice losses, both after and during heating, coincide with the theoretical estimated values. It was found that the optimum heating temperature for low loss splices is near 2000°C at 8.5 W electric discharge power. Splicing loss causes are examined. The main cause of the practical splice loss is the residual core axis misalignment caused by an insufficient surface tension effect and core eccentricity with respect to cladding.     

Random coupling theory of single-mode optical fibers

A random coupling theory is developed for analyzing the propagation characteristics of the polarization state of light in single-mode optical fibers (including conventional and polarization maintaining fibers) under random disturbances. The basic idea is that the disturbances that a fiber suffers in practice continuously change with time and space, so time-varying coupling will occur along the fiber between two linearly polarized modes HE₁₁ that may propagate in the fiber. A coupled-mode equation of single-mode fibers under random disturbances is derived and solved rigorously with few assumptions. A random coupled-mode equation is derived considering time and space variation. Analytic solutions are obtained and used for analyzing the effect of random birefringence, polarization dispersion, polarization fluctuation, and evolution of the degree of polarization in single-mode fibers and for characterizing fiber properties     

Bending losses of coated single-mode optical fibers

Peaks appear in bending losses of coated single-mode fibers due to interference between the guided mode and rays which are radiated from the guided mode and are reflected at cladding-coating boundary. This paper reports derivation of bending loss formulas for coated slab waveguides and coated fibers. Plane wave concepts are also used to explain the appearance of the loss peaks. Measurements were performed by using two coated single-mode fibers. The agreement between theory and experimental results is found to be excellent. It is possible to obtain the refractive index difference from measured peak wavelengths.     

Precision fabrication of D-shaped single-mode optical fibers by insitu monitoring

A technique has been developed to locally remove, over a distance of several millimeters of fiber length, the cladding layer of single-mode (at the 1300 nm wavelength) optical fibers with 1 μm depth precision by use of mechanical lapping and in situ optical transmission monitoring. A cylinder lap dressed with diamond is used to perform high-pressure mechanical lapping. The in situ monitoring technique is based on the specific different attenuations exhibited by higher order propagating modes (for 633 nm light) as the cylinder penetrates into the fiber. Advantages include relatively rapid overall processing, high lapping rate, good optical surface quality, and 1 μm precision. Experimental results are presented and analyzed by an approximate geometrical-optics model     

High-isolation polarization-independent optical circulator coupledwith single-mode fibers

A high-isolation polarization-independent optical circulator is reported. The goal is to provide a simple structure that sharply diminishes the degradation on the isolation caused by imperfection of polarization separation in the polarizing beam splitters. The circulator structure is almost the same as that of a conventional circulator except that a birefringent plate is added to each port to achieve high isolation. The effectiveness of the added birefringent plate has been confirmed by calculation and experiment. Insertion loss and isolation of the fabricated circulator coupled with single-mode fibers have been measured to be <1.0 dB and >29.9 dB, respectively, for 1.299 μm wavelength light. A loss ratio over 28.9 dB has been realized     

Polarization control on output of single-mode optical fibers

Polarization control of the light output from single-mode fiber systems is very important in order to connect it to polarization-dependent integrated optical circuits and applications using a heretodyne detection system. In this paper, automatic control of the polarization of light transmitted through the fiber was demonstrated by an electrooptical and electrical feedback system. In this system, we used a 1.6 μm long wavelength semiconductor CW BH laser, low-loss single-mode optical fiber with a loss of 0.2 dB/km, and two thinz-cut LiNbO3modulators tilted 45° relative to each other. The output light from this polarization controller was maintained to be linear while that from the single-mode fiber was unstable and elliptically polarized.     

Near-field scanning technique for profiling single-mode fibres

A new method for measuring the refractive-index profiles of single-mode fibres is described. The technique is simple to implement, has good resolution and allows fibre numerical aperture and geometry to be measured.     

Characterisation of single-mode fibres by near-field measurement

A new technique for the determination of the refractive-index profile of single-mode optical fibres from a simple near-field measurement is proposed. This permits one to deduce accurately all the important parameters of the fibre.     

Two-dimensional index distribution determination from near-field measurements in single-mode fibres

The refractive-index distribution of single-mode optical fibres can be obtained from transmitted near-field intensity measurements. The generalisation of the method from conventional fibres to noncircularly symmetric guides (e.g. polarisation-maintaining fibres) is discussed. Results obtained both on circular and on polarisation-maintaining fibres are presented.     

Polarization mode dispersion measurement in elliptical core single-mode fibers by a spatial technique

Polarization mode dispersion in elliptical core single-mode fibers has been measured by a spatial technique based on a visibility maximum position measurement in an interferometer. Using the technique, wavelength dependence of the modal dispersion has been measured by varying optical source wavelength between 821 and 904 nm. As a result, contribution of geometrical and strain birefringences on the modal dispersion has been evaluated, and normalized frequency dependence of the modal dispersion has been clarified. Moreover, the dispersion compensation effect has been observed by interchanging the fast and slow modes of two fibers at a splice point. The experimental results reveal that the spatial technique is very useful for polarization mode dispersion measurement.     

Mode field diameter measurements in single-mode optical fibers

The role of the mode field diameter in the characterization of single-mode fibers is examined. The most relevant definitions of this parameter are reviewed, and a comparative analysis of methods for its measurement is performed. All the discussed measurement methods have reached a repeatability and reproducibility which are quite satisfying. Emphasis is given to the requirements posed by the new fiber designs, such as the polarization-maintaining structures. Most of the discussed techniques have been industrialized, and a number of instruments based on them are commercially available; however, it is predicted that the evolution of fiber design will impose new requirements on some of these instruments     

Fiber fuse phenomenon in triangular-profile single-mode optical fibers

The unsteady-state thermal conduction processes in triangular-profile (TP) optical fibers, which exhibited zero chromatic dispersion near 1.55 /spl mu/m, were studied theoretically with the explicit finite-difference method (FDM). It was estimated that these fibers would exhibit a high-temperature optical absorption on the basis of the high-temperature loss-increase mechanism proposed for step-index (SI) optical fibers. The core-center temperature of the TP fibers changed suddenly and reached over 7/spl times/10/sup 5/ K when a 1.064-/spl mu/m laser power of 1 W was inputted into the core layer heated at 2608 K. This rapid heating of the core initiated the "fiber fuse" phenomenon. The propagation rates of the fiber fuse, estimated at 1.064 /spl mu/m, were in fairly good agreement with the experimentally determined values. It was found that the threshold powers for initiating the fiber fuse are linearly proportional to the roots of the effective core areas of both the SI and the TP optical fibers. This coincides the experimental result reported by Seo et al.     

Fiber fuse phenomenon in step-index single-mode optical fibers

The unsteady-state thermal conduction process in step-index single-mode (SM) optical fiber was studied theoretically with the explicit finite-difference method. We considered a high-temperature loss-increase mechanism, which includes two factors that bring about an increase in the absorption coefficients: 1) electronic conductivity due to the thermal ionization of a Ge-doped silica core and 2) thermochemical SiO production in silica glass. The core-center temperature changed suddenly and reached over 4/spl times/10/sup 5/ K when a 1.064-/spl mu/m laser power of 2 W was input into the core layer heated at 2723 K. This rapid heating of the core initiated the "fiber fuse" phenomenon. The high-temperature core areas were enlarged and propagated toward the light source. The propagation rates of the fiber fuse, estimated at 1.064 and 1.48 /spl mu/m, were in fair agreement with the experimentally determined values. We found that the threshold power for initiating the fiber fuse increases from 0.98 to 1.26 W when the input laser wavelength is increased from 1.06 to 1.55 /spl mu/m.     

Polarization dispersion measurement on twisted single-mode optical fibers

A new method for measuring polarization dispersion between two eigen polarization modes is presented. It utilizes the measured phase shift corresponding to birefringence difference between two adjacent wavelengths. This method makes it possible to measure small polarization dispersion by using a short test piece even when eigen polarization modes are elliptically polarized. A polarization dispersion of 0.4 ps/km in twisted single-mode fibers can be measured in an approximately 4-m-long fiber by using 1.152- and 1.161-μm lines in a He-Ne laser. Experimental data that polarization dispersion decreases with an increase in fiber twist ate in very close agreement with theoretical results.     

Asymptotic effective cutoff condition in single-mode optical fibers

Recently some experimental investigations have shown that the effective cutoff wavelength of the LP11mode in a single-mode optical fiber decreases with increased distance from the optical source. In this paper such a phenomenon is theoretically investigated confirming that asymptotically the effective cutoff wavelength reaches a minimum value, dependent on few key parameters. Furthermore, attention is focused onto the excess attenuation which characterizes this behavior, leading to a remarkable penalty in the design of the optical link. The wavelength dependence of this parameter seems to be very useful in order to improve the cable manufacturing process.