Improving the performance of fiber gratings with sinusoidal chirps

Appl Opt. 2003 Apr 20;42(12):2181-7. doi: 10.1364/ao.42.002181.

Abstract

Sinusoidal chirps are introduced in fiber gratings to improve their performance as dispersion compensators and multichannel filters. The sinusoidally chirped fiber gratings exhibit a flattop spectrum with steep edges and high reflectivity. The bandwidth utilization defined as the ratio of -1:-30-dB bandwidth could be very high (>0.85). This structure can be applied to the sampled fiber gratings to enhance channel uniformity. We demonstrate 264 uniform channels with a 25-GHz-spacing for high-density-wavelength multiplexing applications. Multichannel dispersion compensations with seven uniform channels of 50-GHz-spacing in short fiber gratings are also demonstrated. The impact of possible fabrication errors on the spectra of the gratings is discussed.