Numerical analysis and optimization of optical spectral characteristics of fiber Bragg gratings modulated by a transverse acoustic wave

Abstract

Acoustic waves that impinge transversely on a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) induce periodic microbends of the fiber, which modulate the phase index and lead to the changes of optical spectral characteristics of the FBG. We investigated the spectral characteristics of a FBG modulated by a transverse acoustic wave. The corresponding theoretical model is presented by modifying the multimode coupled equations. A fast algorithm based on the Newton-Raphson method is proposed to simulate numerically the spectral characteristics of such a FBG. Our numerical results are in excellent agreement with the known experimental results. For the first time, to our knowledge, the known experimental results have been reproduced by numerical simulations. Moreover, the optimization of the reflective spectra of such a FBG is also discussed. From the perspective of inherent physical mechanisms, the exceptional spectral characteristics of such a FBG are discussed as well.