Abstract

Ultraviolet irradiation of the core of an optical fiber permanently changes the core refractive index at wavelengths of interest for optical-fiber communications. The effect, called photosensitivity, has great practical application for the fabrication of optical-communications devices, such as wavelength-selective filters, fiber lasers, and dispersion compensators. Important recent advances in photosensitivity research are the use of phase masks for photoimprinting Bragg gratings in the fiber core, the enhancement of optical-fiber photosensitivity by hydrogen loading, and the fabrication of chirped gratings with stringent specifications synthesized for dispersion compensation.

© 1995 Optical Society of America