Origin and system impact of laser-induced birefringence in phototonic devices

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The goal of the proposed research is to reveal the origin and system impact of laser-induced birefringence in photonic devices. The objectives of the proposed research include: 1) Investigation of the mechanism and annealing property of laser induced birefringence in fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) by UV and IR lasers. 2) The methods of controlling the laser-induced birefringence in the process of device fabrication for various applications. 3) The impact of birefringence on optical communication and sensor networks. The study of the laser-induced birefringence will focus on the interaction between high power laser and the material being exposed. The methods may include a) real-time monitoring of the induced birefringence during the process of photonic device fabrication and during the process of annealing, b) the dependence of the induced birefringence on the laser type (UV, IR, pulsed and CW), intensity and polarization of the laser beam, c) the index distribution along the cross section of the irradiated fiber or waveguides, and d) the difference in absorption spectra of the photonic material before and after being irradiated by high power laser. This part of the proposed project will be performed at the Communications Research Center Canada (CRC). The impact of birefringence on optical communication and sensor networks will focus on the tests of system impairments of birefringence in FBG-based Wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) filters, dispersion compensators and distributed temperature/strain sensors. This part of the project will be performed with the collaboration of Prof. Xiaoyi Bao at the University of Ottawa (UO). The facilities at UO include an optical communication system (10Gb/s, OC192) and an optical sensor network measuring temperature and strain. All of these fundamental studies mentioned above will help the control of the amount of birefringence in each photonic device for communication and sensor applications. The proposed research will help in the understanding of the interaction between light and material in term of induced birefringence and will increase the capacity, accuracy and functionality of photonic devices in both optical communication and sensing networks.