Abstract-Hal.docVIP

Fluorescence spectral characteristics of Er3+ co-doped photosensitive fibers under UV exposure and high temperature annealing Y H Shen1,2; J Mandal1; S Pal1; T Sun1; K T V Grattan1 1School of Engineering Mathematical Sciences, City University, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB, UK 2 Department of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China. S A Wade3; S F Collins3; G W Baxter3 3Optical Technology Research Laboratory, Victoria University, Australia B Dussardier4; G Monnom4 4Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis – Faculté des Sciences, France Abstract An investigation has been carried out into the fluorescence spectral characteristics of several types of Er3+ doped photosensitive fibers to explore the effects of both high temperature annealing and the level of UV exposure used in the grating fabrication. The phenomenon of spectral narrowing at high temperatures was found with these different Er3+ doped fibers. By comparing the temperatures at which the onset of fiber crystallization was evident, and correlating this with the corresponding highest temperature the FBG could sustain and still remain operational, it can be seen that there is a close relation between the temperature at which the process of crystallization began, and the highest sustainable temperature for FBG operation. Keywords: Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG), fluorescence spectra, crystallization 1. Introduction UV-induced Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBG) have been shown to be very important components for use in both the telecommunications and fiber optic sensing fields, especially over the past ten years. A number of comprehensive reviews of the principles, performance and applications of these devices have been published recently [1,2]. In addition, considerable effort has been expended on the study of the issue of the thermal stability of FBGs and the consequent effects on performance [3,4,5,6,7], which is key to many of the practical applications that have been demonstrated. These researchers ha