Effect of Strain,Temperature and Apodization on Reflection Spectrum of Fiber Bragg Grating

International journal of scientific and technical research in engineering (IJSTRE)
www.ijstre.com Volume 2 Issue 1 ǁ January 2017.
Manuscript id.544894124 www.ijstre.com Page 1
Effect of Strain,Temperature and Apodization on Reflection
Spectrum of Fiber Bragg Grating
Ashwin Suresh Nijapkar1
, Manisha Chattopadhyay2
1
(Extc, Vesit/Mumbai University, India)
2
(Extc, Vesit/Mumbai University, India)
ashwin.nijapkar@ves.ac.in
manisha.chattopadhyay@ves.ac.in
ABSTRACT : This paper presents the effect of strain, temperature on Bragg wavelength of Fiber Bragg
Grating.Effect on reflectivity of Fiber Bragg Grating is analyzed by Keeping constant grating length and
increasing strain and temperature. The effect of Apodization functions on side lobe level and the reflectivity of
the reflection spectrum are studied using coupled mode theory. Apodization function have the best performance
in reducing side lobes, where side lobe oscillations are reduced. Simulation is carried out using Opti-grating
software.
KEYWORDS -Apodization, Couple Mode Theory (CMT), Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG), Reflectivity.
I. Introduction
Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is a periodic modulation of the index of refraction along the length in the
core of single mode optical fiber. [1] FBG is formed by exposing the core of the fiber to a periodic pattern of
UV light which introduces permanent change in the refractive index of the core. [2] Germanium doped silica
fibers are used for the fabrication of FBG because of its photosensitivity. Photosensitivity is the ability to
change the refractive index of the core when it is exposed to UV light. For high reflectivity the level of
Germanium doping must be higher.FBG can be used in strain and temperature sensing. [3]
Fig.1 Fiber Bragg Grating [4]
Bragg gratings are analyzed based on the principle of Bragg reflection as shown in Fig.1. When light
propagates through the fiber through periodically alternating regions of refractive index, part of light will be
reflected back from each period to the input. Reflected light has a wavelength equals to Bragg wavelength so
that light reflects back. [5] When reflected light combine coherently to one large reflection at a particular
wavelength with the grating period approximately half the input light's wavelength. It is referred to as the Bragg

Effect of Strain,Temperature and Apodization on Reflection Spectrum of Fiber Bragg Grating
condition, and the wavelength at which reflection occurs is called Bragg wavelength.The condition for higher
reflectivity is Bragg condition which is given by,
 effB n2 (1)
Where B is the central wavelength of FBG, wavelength that satisfies Bragg condition. effn is the effective
refractive index,  is the grating period or pitch of the grating.[4]
1.1 Coupled Mode Theory (CMT)
Coupled mode theory is used to calculate the spectral response of Bragg gratings. For a single mode fiber, the
simplified couple mode equations are given by, [6]
)()(
^
zikSzRi
dz
dR
  (2)
)()( *
^
zRikzSi
dz
dS
  (3)
Where, R and S are the transmitted and reflected fields respectively. )(zR is the amplitude of forward and
)(zS is the amplitude of backward propagating mode. k ,
^
 are ‘’ac’’ & ‘’dc’’ coupling coefficients
respectively.
If the grating structure is uniform along z, then equation (2)&(3) can be coupled with constant coefficients. With
appropriate boundary conditions the reflectivity is given by,
2
^
2^
222
^
222
)(cosh
)(sinh
k
Lk
Lk
r





 (4)
Where L is the length of the grating.
In this paper, the effect of strain and temperature on FBG reflectivity is analyzed in section 2. Section 3 presents
the various Apodizationfunctions and its effect on Fiber Bragg Grating reflectivity. Results and analysis are
presented in section 4.
II. Strain & Temperature distribution along FBG
Fiber Bragg grating reflection spectrum is based on the physical parameters such as grating length,
grating period and refractive index. Grating period and refractive index changes due to externally applied strain
and change in the temperature.The shift in Bragg wavelength due to applied longitudinal strain SB/ is given by
zeBSB P  )1(/  (5)
Where B is the Bragg wavelength, z is the applied strain along the longitudinal axis and eP is an effective
strain optic constant deﬁned as,
)]([
2
121112
2
PPP
n
P
eff
e   (6)

Where 1211,PP are photo elastic coefficients, effn is the effective refractive index and  is the Poisson’s
ratio.[7]
Due to variation of temperature, the length of the fiber changes and consequently the grating period changes.
The Bragg wavelength then deviates from the original FBG wavelength. The deviation of the wavelength of
reflected signal is measured and we can estimate the temperature. The shift in Bragg wavelength TB/ as a
result of temperature changes T is described by
TBTB  )(/  (7)
)(
1
T


 (8)
)(
1
T
n
n
eff
eff 

 (9)
Where T is the change in temperature,  is the grating period,  is the thermal expansion coefficient for the
fiber and  is the thermo-optic coefficient. [2]
III. Apodized Fiber Bragg Grating
The spectral response of grating with uniform index modulation and length of the fiber has secondary
maxima on the sides of main reflection peak which is undesirable and which may be suppressed by Apodization.
It is a variation of modulation index over the grating length of the fiber.Apodization can be achieved by
exposure to UV light to reduce the excursions towards both ends of the grating. [8]
Apodization functions rely on the principle that sum of the dc index change and the amplitude of the refractive
index modulation should be kept constant throughout the grating. Several Apodization functions are,[9,10]
Gaussian:     4,2,1,75.0,0;
3
2.2ln.4exp 

























 

Lz
L
L
z
zf (10)
Hamming:   LzH
H
L
L
z
H
zf 





















 0,9.0;
1
2
2
cos1
(11)
Sine:   Lz
L
z
zf 










 
 0;sin (12)
Where L is the grating length, z is the coordinate of propagation of light,  is the Apodization factor.

IV. Results and Analysis
The reflection spectrum of FBG with externally applied strain, temperature and different Apodization
functions are obtained using Opti-grating.FBG parameters are listed in Table 1.
Table 1.Parameters of FBG
Parameters Symbols Values
Bragg wavelength
B 1550 nm
Index modulation n 0.0001
Grating period  533.81 nm
Effective
refractive index
effn 1.47
Grating length
(For strain and
temperature)
L 10000 µm
Grating length
(For Apodization
functions )
L 40000 µm
4.1 Effect of strain on reflection spectrum
Effect of strain on the reflection spectrum is observed by varying the strain with grating length 10000 µm shown
in Fig.2,3,4,5. In Fig.2 at Bragg wavelength, the reflectivity is 54.94%. With increase in strain by 10 µε,
reflectivity remains same but there will be shift in the Bragg wavelength by 0.000012 nm. Similarly for 100µε
and 150µε, the Bragg wavelength is shifted to 1.5501220, 1.5501820 nm respectively.
4.2 Effect of temperature on reflection spectrum
Effect of temperature on reflection spectrum is observed by varying the temperature with grating length 10000
µm shown in Fig.6, 7, 8, 9. In Fig.6 at Bragg wavelength the reflectivity is 54.94%. For 35C the Bragg
wavelength is shifted to 1.5501400. Further increase in temperature shows the Bragg wavelength shift. For 45 &
55C Bragg wavelengthis at 1.5502720, 1.5504100 nm respectively.
4.3 Effect of Apodization on reflection spectrum
Effect of Apodization profiles on reflection spectrum is investigated using different Apodization functions with
grating length 40000 µm. In Gaussian function, for Apodization factor = 0.75, 1, 2, 4 the reflectivity is 83.13,
93.16, 99.19, 99.73% respectively shown in Fig.10, 11, 12, 13. For Apodization factor  =0.75 there are no
side lobes present. As we increase the Apodization factor, we get maximum reflectivity but the sidelobe level
increases. For Hamming and Sine functions the reflectivity is 93.04, 96.94 % respectively as shown in Fig.14,
15.
Fig.2 Reflection spectrum with uniform strainFig.3 Reflection spectrum with strain= 10µε

Fig.4 Reflection spectrum with strain= 100 µε Fig.5 Reflection spectrum with strain= 150 µε
Fig.6 Reflection spectrum with temperature= 25C Fig.7 Reflection spectrum with temperature= 35C
Fig.8 Reflection spectrum with temperature= 45C Fig.9 Reflection spectrum with temperature= 55C
Fig.10 Gaussian Apodization with  = 0.75 Fig.11Gaussian Apodization with  =1
Fig.12 Gaussian Apodization with  =2 Fig.13 Gaussian Apodization with  =4

Fig.14 Hamming profileFig.15Sine profile
V. CONCLUSION
Strain and temperature change the grating period which results in the Bragg wavelength shift. When
strain and temperature distribution changes, response of the grating device is changed. This Bragg wavelength
shift can be used for sensing application. Different Apodization functions for maximum reflectivity is compared
using constant grating length and index modulation. Apodization shows a trade-off between reflectivity and
suppression of side lobes. Gaussian Apodization function has maximum value of reflectivity as compared to
Hamming and Sine function when Apodization factor is greater than 2 in Gaussian function. Hamming profile is
the best Apodization function for reducing the side lobe level which can be used in strain sensing.
REFERENCES
[1] Andreas Othonos, Kyriacos Kalli, Fiber Bragg Gratings: Fundamentals and Applications in Telecommunications and
Sensing(Artech House optoelectronics library, ISBN 0890063443, 9780890063446,1999) 192-194.
[2] Udoh, Solomon, James Njuguma and RadhakrishnaPrabhu, Modelling and Simulation of Fiber Bragg Grating Characterization
for Oil and Gas Sensing Applications, Proceedings of the 2014 First International Conference on Systems Informatics,Modelling
and Simulation. IEEE Computer Society,2014.
[3] Nagwan I. Tawfik,Walid S. Eldeeb, M. B. Mashade, A. E. Abdelnaiem, Optimization of Uniform Fiber Bragg Grating Reflection
Spectra for Maximum Reflectivity and Narrow Bandwidth, International Journal of Computational Engineering Research (IJCER),
ISSN(e):2250-3005,Vol.5, Issue.02, February 2012.
[4] Toto Saktioto, Jalil Ali, Non Linear Optic in Fiber Bragg Grating, (Intech Open Access Publisher, ISBN 978-953-51-0091-
1,2012) 587-589.
[5] Chiranjit Ghosh, Quazi Md. Alfred, Biswajit Ghosh, Spectral Characteristics of Uniform Fiber Bragg Grating With Different
Grating Length and Refractive Index Variation, International Journal of Innovative Research in Computer and Communication
Engineering (IJIRCCE), Vol.3, Issue.01, January 2015.
[6] TuranErdogan,Fiber Grating Spectra,Journal of Ligthwave Technology,Vol.15,No.8,August 1997.
[7] Khalid, Zafrulla, Simulation and analysis of GuassianApodized Fiber Bragg Grating Strain Sensor, Journal of Optical Technology,
79, October 2012, 77-85.
[8] Raman Kashyap, Fiber Bragg Gratings (Academic Press,1990).
[9] S. Benameur,M. Kandouci,C. AupetitBerthelemot,AJoti, Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexers Based on Fiber Bragg
Gratings, Sensors & Transducers,Vol.27, Special Issue, May 2014, 62-66.
[10] Ashry, Elrashidi, Investigating the Performance of Apodized Fiber Bragg Gratings for Sensing Applications,Proceeding zone 1
IEEE Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education 978, 2014.

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