Fabrication of a long-period grating in a fibre by second-harmonic radiation from a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser

Abstract

Long-period gratings are fabricated in an optical fibre for the first time by second-harmonic radiation from a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser without the use of an amplifier. The photosensitivity of different fibres exposed to femtosecond pulses is studied. The estimates of the photosensitivity and the thermal properties of long-period gratings showed that the mechanism of the change in the refractive index induced by the 400-nm second-harmonic radiation differs from the corresponding mechanisms upon exposure to UV radiation from excimer lasers or irradiation by amplified 800-nm femtosecond pulses.