Sensing with slow light in an active fiber Bragg grating

The phase-shifted sensitivity of an interferometer can be enhanced by increasing the group index. In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate a slow light sensor by placing an active fiber Bragg grating (FBG) in one arm of the Michelson's interferometer. A 25 KHz AC voltage was applied to a piezoelectric (PZT) set nearby the active FBG. Once the wavelength is varied to near the FBG band edge, the maximum phase-shifted amplitude appears, which is about 1.8 rad and is 4 times greater than that when wavelength is near the center of the reflection band. The active FBG is pumped by a 980 nm laser diode, which can help us to stabilize the system works in the slow light regime to obtain the maximum phase shift. It provides a very simple approach to increase the phase-shifted sensitivity, which is likely to have important applications for strain and acoustic sensors.