High-temperature stable π-phase-shifted fiber Bragg gratings inscribed using infrared femtosecond pulses and a phase mask

Type II pi-phase-shifted Bragg gratings stable up to similar to 1000 degrees C are written inside a standard single mode silica optical fiber (SW-28) with infrared femtosecond pulses and a special phase mask. Inscription through the protective polyimide fiber coating is also demonstrated. The birefringence of the Bragg gratings and, as a result, the polarization dependence of their spectra arc strongly affected by the femtosecond laser polarization. Using optimized writing conditions, the full width at half maximum of the pi-phase-shifted passband feature can be similar to 30 pm in transmission, while the polarization-dependent shift of its central wavelength can be less than 8 pm, for a 7 mm long grating structure. This makes such gratings a unique tool for high-resolution measurements of temperature, load and vibration in extreme temperature environments. (C) 2018 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement