Tube-encased fiber grating
First Claim
1. A tube-encased fiber optic device, comprising:
- an optical fiber, having at least one Bragg grating embedded therein; and
a tube, having said optical fiber and said Bragg grating encased therein along a longitudinal axis of said tube, said tube being fused to at least a portion of said fiber at a location where at least a portion of said Bragg grating is located.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A tube-encased fiber grating includes an optical fiber 10 having at least one Bragg grating 12 impressed therein which is embedded within a glass capillary tube 20. Light 14 is incident on the grating 12 and light 16 is reflected at a reflection wavelength λ1. The shape of the tube 20 may be other geometries (e.g., a “dogbone” shape) and/or more than one concentric tube may be used or more than one grating or pair of gratings may be used. The fiber 10 may be doped at least between a pair of gratings 150,152, encased in the tube 20 to form a tube-encased compression-tuned fiber laser or the grating 12 or gratings 150,152 may be constructed as a tunable DFB fiber laser encased in the tube 20. Also, the tube 20 may have an inner region 22 which is tapered away from the fiber 10 to provide strain relief for the fiber 10, or the tube 20 may have tapered (or fluted) sections 27 which have an outer geometry that decreases down to the fiber 10 and provides added fiber pull strength. Also, the tube-encased grating 12 exhibits lower mode coupling from the fiber core to the cladding modes due to the increased diameter of the cladding where the tube 20 is fused to the fiber 10 where the grating is located 12.
115 Citations
41 Claims
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1. A tube-encased fiber optic device, comprising:
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an optical fiber, having at least one Bragg grating embedded therein; and
a tube, having said optical fiber and said Bragg grating encased therein along a longitudinal axis of said tube, said tube being fused to at least a portion of said fiber at a location where at least a portion of said Bragg grating is located. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of encasing an optical Bragg grating in a tube, comprising:
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a) obtaining an optical fiber having a predetermined grating location where a Bragg grating is to be embedded therein;
b) placing a tube around said fiber at said grating location;
c) heating the tube until the tube fuses to at least a portion of the fiber at said grating location such that said predetermined grating location is encased in said tube; and
d) embedding a Bragg grating in the fiber at said grating location. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A tube-encased optical Bragg grating, made by a process, comprising the steps of:
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a) obtaining an optical fiber having a predetermined grating location where a Bragg grating is to be embedded therein;
b) placing a tube around said fiber at said grating location;
c) heating the tube until the tube fuses to at least a portion of the fiber at said grating location such that said predetermined grating location is encased in said tube; and
d) embedding a Bragg grating in the fiber at said grating location. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method for encasing an fiber optic Bragg grating in a tube, comprising:
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a) obtaining an optical fiber, having at least one Bragg grating embedded therein;
b) placing the tube around said fiber at least where said Bragg grating is located; and
c) heating the tube at a predetermined temperature until the tube fuses to at least a portion of said fiber at the location where at least a portion of said Bragg grating is located, such that said Bragg grating is encased in said tube. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A tube-encased fiber optic device, comprising:
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an optical fiber, having at least one Bragg grating embedded therein;
a tube, having said optical fiber and said Bragg grating encased therein along a longitudinal axis of said tube, said tube being fused to at least a portion of said fiber at a location where at least a portion of sid Bragg grating is located; and
said at least one Bragg grating being configured as a;
fiber laser, DFB fiber laser, or Fabry Perot arrangement.- View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41)
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Specification