Lucent Technologies Inc.

Jds Uniphase Corporation

Jennifer Aspell

Valerie Jeanne Kuck

Daryl Inniss

Mark Anthony Paczkowski

Debra A Simoff

Donald R Zimmerman

The traditional solution to monitoring the pump laser power uses the back facet of the pump laser to monitor its power. However, stability and aging issues of the back facet may make it difficult or even impossible to measure the pump power to a high degree of accuracy using this method. Pump lasers often use fiber Bragg gratings to stabilize their wavelength. However, if an in-line optical fiber blazed Bragg grating is used, then the pump power is coupled out of the grating to a detector and monitored. The method of the present invention minimizes components and provides a direct monitoring of fiber coupled power. Alternatively, light coupled out of a WDM is used in a similar manner to monitor the pump power.

Optical amplifier monitor using a blazed grating

Recognizing the rate-determining nature of the coating removal and recoating steps, applicants have demonstrated that with proper combination of low absorbing polymer, glass and low intensity radiation, UV-induced gratings can be side-written into polymer coated fibers without removing the polymer, thus permitting up the possibility of high speed fabrication of fiber gratings.

Formation of gratings in polymer-coated optical fibers

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Holmdel, NJ, United States of America

Jennifer Aspell