On the role of Ge-doping concentration in the refractive index rollover and thermal annealing characteristics of type IIa fiber Bragg gratings

This paper presents studies on the role of Ge-doping concentration (6 to 18 mol. %) in the refractive index rollover fluence and thermal annealing characteristics of type IIa fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). A 255 nm UV beam of low-pulse energy density (similar to 2.2 mJ/cm(2)), nanosecond (similar to 30 ns) duration, and high-repetition rate (similar to 5.5 kHz) was used for FBG inscription. It is observed that the UV fluence needed for refractive index rollover was higher for fiber having low Ge- doping (similar to 6 mol.%). The temperature sustainability of these gratings has been studied in a multistep thermal annealing process up to 800 degrees C. It was observed that the higher the total UV fluence required for refractive index rollover, the higher the temperature sustainability of a type IIa grating. The temperature rise of the fiber for a single UV pulse and at the maximum cumulative UV fluence was estimated for different Ge- doping concentrations. The thermal stability of the grating is linked to the amount of Ge-doping concentration of the fiber. These observations may be due to the fact that a high cumulative fluence resulted in a larger stress relaxation, leading to enhanced FBG temperature stability. (C) 2014 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)