5

Introduction to Fibre
Bragg Gratings

This chapter is a short introduction to fibre Bragg gratings aimed at providing a

fundamental understanding of the spectral properties of the filters designed using
this technology. The concepts presented in this chapter are important for the analysis
and optimisation of add-drop multiplexers based on gratings inscribed in the waist of
fibre-couplers (chapter 8).

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5 - Introduction to Fibre Bragg Gratings

5.1

Phase Matching Conditions

Fibre gratings allow the transfer of power between modes of an optical fibre. This is
achieved by perturbing the phase of one mode such that it matches the phase of the
other, phase matching condition. Fibre gratings are usually written in bare fibres
where the acrylate coating is removed. This means the optical fibre behaves like a
three-layer structure with different effective refractive indexes in the core, n1, and
the cladding, n2, with a final outer cladding being air, n3=1. For a single mode fibre
with these parameters the core-guided mode has a propagation constant co given by,
2

n 2 < co =

n co <

n1

(5.1)

and the cladding modes that are guided by the cladding-air structure have
propagation constants that fall in the range:
2

n 3 < cl <

n2

(5.2)

and finally there are radiation modes that can have propagation constants in the
limit:

0 < rad <

n3

(5.3)

With the introduction of a periodic variation of the effective index along the fibre
length, the first order phase matching between the fundamental and backward
propagating fibre modes (fundamental or cladding modes) occurs when [76]:

1 2 =

(5.4)

52

5 - Introduction to Fibre Bragg Gratings

For the case of coupling into the backward propagating fundamental mode, 2=-1
and the resonance condition yields:

1 =

(5.5)

In expressions (5.4) and (5.5) is the period of the effective index modulation and
1, 2 are respectively, the propagation constants of the fundamental mode and the
mode the reflected light is coupled into. Gratings that couple to backward
propagating modes are known as reflection or Bragg gratings. Typically these
devices are based on coupling between the forward and backward fundamental
modes.

Figure 5.1 Schematic representation of the modes existing in uncoated single mode fibres
and the matching condition for the core mode reflection.

For long period gratings (both 1 and 2 are positive) the phase condition for
forward coupling from the fundamental mode into forward propagating cladding
modes is given by:

1 2 =

(5.6)

53

5 - Introduction to Fibre Bragg Gratings

5.2

Mathematical Description of Bragg Gratings

This section describes a simple approach for obtaining the spectral properties of
fibre Bragg gratings. For an extensive review of the theory and properties of fibre
Bragg gratings the references [77-79] are suggested.

5.2.1 Coupled mode equations

Coupled mode theory has been successfully used to describe the spectral properties
of Bragg gratings [78]. Refractive index variations with a period along the length
of a fibre are generally expressed as:
n ( z ) = n 0 + n ( z ) cos(2 + ( z ) )

(5.7)

the functions n(z) and (z) are slowly varying functions compared to the grating
period , n0 is the refractive index of the core, and n(z) the envelope of the
refractive index modulation. The parameter, (z), defines locally, the phase of the
effective index modulation, which is used to describe phase shifts or grating chirp.
For simplicity this introduction will consider unchirped gratings only, therefore
(z)=0. Along the grating the forward propagating wave, v1, and backward
propagating wave, v2, are related by the coupled mode equations [80]:
dv1
= iv1 + iq( z )v 2
dz
dv 2
= +iv 2 iq * ( z )v1
dz

(5.8)

where the amplitudes of the waves v1 and v2 are related to the amplitudes of the
forward and backward propagating electric field, A(z) and B(z) respectively:

54

5 - Introduction to Fibre Bragg Gratings

A( z ) = v1e iz
B( z ) = v 2 e +iz

(5.9)

q(z) is the coupling coefficient given by:

q( z ) =

2n 0

n ( z )

(5.10)

and represents the detuning from the Bragg grating resonance wavelength,
Bragg=2n0, defined as:

n0

(5.11)

In the case of Bragg gratings where n varies along the grating length the spectral
characteristics can be obtained by solving the differential coupled mode equations
(5.8). The particular case of a uniform grating has been solved analytically [81], the
reflection coefficient =v1()/v2() and reflectivity R=||2 at the start of the grating
(z=0) are:

( ) =

q sinh(L)
sinh(L) + i cosh(L)

(5.12)

R( ) =

sinh 2 (L)
cosh 2 (L) 2 q 2

(5.13)

where 2=q22 .

5 - Introduction to Fibre Bragg Gratings

55

Some important features can be inferred from these results. Firstly it can be
demonstrated that the maximum reflectivity Rmax occurs when the resonance
condition is observed, i.e., =0 and is given by
Rmax = tanh 2 ( qL)

(5.14)

and secondly the spectral bandwidth, zeros, defined as the two first zeros in
reflectivity calculated using (5.13) yielding [78]:

zeros

Bragg
n
=
1+
n0
nL

(5.15)

For strong gratings where nL>>Bragg the normalised bandwidth is approximated

by:
zeros

n
n0

(5.16)

and for weak gratings where nL<<Bragg the normalised bandwidth is approximated
by:
zeros

Bragg
n0 L

(5.17)

When writing gratings in fibres, equation (5.15) provides useful information about
the induced effective index change simply by measuring the spectral bandwidth of
the grating. Similarly for uniform gratings, the induced refractive index change can
also be calculated using (5.14), by measuring the maximum reflectivity at the Bragg
wavelength.

5 - Introduction to Fibre Bragg Gratings

56

To fully understand the dispersive properties of fibre Bragg gratings the

concept of group or time delay must be introduced. For a uniform grating the time
delay can be determined from the phase of the reflection coefficient defined in
(5.12). If =phase(), then the time delay, , for light reflected from a grating is
defined as [78]:

d
d

2 d
2c d

(5.18)

and the effective length, leff, that light at a particular wavelength travels within the
grating before it returns to the origin can be calculated from leff=c/n0. In uniform
gratings, the minimum time delay occurs at the Bragg wavelength. For wavelengths
near the edges of the grating bandwidth and the sidelobes of the reflectivity, the
dispersion is greatest with the time delay varying rapidly with wavelength. Thus,
large time delays are characteristic of this regime and are due to these wavelengths
suffering multiple reflections before exiting the grating (as in a Fabry-Perot cavity).
Figure 5.2 shows the reflectivity spectrum and the time delay for a uniform grating
with a strength, qL=4, and a grating length of L=20mm. The maximum reflectivity,
which can be calculated from (5.14), corresponds to the minimum time delay. For
wavelengths near the first reflectivity zeros, the time delay is maximum
corresponding to several round-trips before the light exists the grating.

57

500

400

0.8

300

0.6

200

0.4

100

0.2

0
1549.75

1549.85

1549.95 1550.05
Wavelength (nm)

1550.15

Reflectivity

Group delay (ps)

5 - Introduction to Fibre Bragg Gratings

0
1550.25

Figure 5.2 - Calculated reflection spectra (dotted line) and group delay (solid line) for a
uniform grating with qL=4.

5.3

Apodisation

In order to increase side-lobe suppression to achieve the required discrimination

between adjacent wavelength channels (at least 30dB) in WDM systems, fibre
gratings are generally apodised. This is achieved by tapering the refractive index
modulation, n(z), at both ends of the grating structure. The reflectivity of an
apodised grating can be calculated by defining an effective length, Leff, for the
grating calculated using the following expression [79], which describes the
normalised coupling strength.

5 - Introduction to Fibre Bragg Gratings

58

qmax Leff = q( z )dz

(5.19)

The reflectivity at the grating resonance wavelength is calculated by substituting Leff

in (5.14) and using q=qmax. When comparing gratings with different apodisations,
the quantity defined by (5.19) must be equal for each. Thus to achieve the same
normalised coupling strength for the same maximum grating refractive index
modulation, nmax, or coupling strength, qmax, the length of the gratings is multiplied
by L/Leff.
Inter-channel cross-talk of grating based add-drop multiplexers depend upon
side-lobe suppression and the grating spectrum. Ideally a square filter with high
reflectivity and 50dB side-lobes is required. Recently these filters have been
determined using a numerical inverse scattering method [50] and demonstrated
experimentally [82]. In OADMs based on gratings inscribed in the coupler waist, the
fabrication limitations for the grating length play a vital role in the choice of
apodisation and the consequent add-drop performance discussed further in chapter 8.
Figures 5.3 and 5.4 compare the reflectivity spectrum and penetration depth
respectively, for gratings with the same normalised coupling strength qLeff=4. The
black line corresponds to a uniform grating, the blue a Blackman apodised grating,
and the red line to a sine2 apodised grating. The Blackman apodised grating offers
the best side-lobe suppression although it has the highest penetration depth into the
grating. The actual lengths of the gratings to obtain the same normalised coupling
strength, for each of the apodisations were; Blackman: 47.6mm; sine2: 40mm;
Uniform: 20mm.

59

5 - Introduction to Fibre Bragg Gratings

Uniform

Reflectivity (dB)

-20

-40

sin

-60
Blackman

-80
1549.8

1549.9

1550
1550.1
Wavelength (nm)

1550.2

Figure 5.3 Reflectivity spectrum of gratings with different apodisations. Black line:
Uniform apodised grating; Blue line: Blackman apodised grating; Red line: sine2 apodised
grating.

35

Penetration length (mm)

30
25
20

Blackman

sin

15
10
Uniform

5
0
1549.8

1549.9

1550
1550.1
Wavelength (nm)

1550.2

Figure 5.4 Penetration depth spectrum of the same gratings as in Figure 5.3.

5 - Introduction to Fibre Bragg Gratings

5.4

60

Transfer Matrix

For modelling the spectral properties of gratings with arbitrary apodisation and chirp
profiles, a simple method exists, whereby the grating is described using N sub
matrices representing N uniform sections of the grating; these matrices are then
multiplied to obtain the total grating response [78, 83]. The solution of the
propagation equation (5.8) for a uniform medium of length z and constant coupling
coefficient q can be expressed in terms of the well-known transfer matrix [78], MT:

1 ( z + z, )
( z, )
= MT 1
2 ( z + z, )
1 ( z, )
q

cosh( sz ) i sinh( sz )
sinh( sz )
s
s
MT =

sinh( sz )
cosh( sz ) + i sinh( sz )
s
Where s=|q|22. The output amplitudes of the entire grating can be found by
multiplying the transfer matrices correspondent to each of the N individual sections:

1 ( L)
(0)
;
= MT 1
2 ( L)
1 (0)

M T = M TN M TN 1 ... M T1

Throughout this thesis the above method, in conjunction with an appropriate

discretisation algorithm [50] was employed to efficiently model the spectral
characteristics of the gratings investigated. To increase the numerical efficiency by
reducing the computation time, the matrix MT was expressed as a product of simpler
matrices [50]. The scattering process is desbribed as a localised event in the centre
of each individual grating section. Taking MT in the limit |q| while keeping a
finit product qz we can calculate a simplified matrix that describes the scattering
process MS(z), in the section of length z:

5 - Introduction to Fibre Bragg Gratings

M S (z ) =

cosh( q z )

q
sinh( q z )
q

q*
sinh( q z )
q

cosh( q z )

61

The propagation along the grating has also to be taken into account. The propagation
matrix MP(z,), is calculated taking MT in the limit |q|0 giving:

M P (z , ) =

e iz
0

0
e

+ iz

The transfer matrix MT can be approximated with an error O(3) in terms of these
two matrices as:

MT M P

5.5

z
z
, M S (z )M P
, .
2
2

Photosensitivity

To write strong gratings in short fibre lengths, the photosensitivity of the

germanium-doped fibre core should be increased to achieve larger refractive index
changes. This issue is especially important when writing gratings in fibre tapers or
couplers where the photosensitive area and therefore the overlap with the core mode
is reduced. Increased photosensitivity is commonly achieved by; loading the optical
fibres with hydrogen or deuterium under high pressures [84], brushing the optical
fibres/waveguides with an hydrogen flame [85] and, increasing germanium
concentration and adding codopants such as fluorine or boron to reduce NA. The
physical origin of the photosensitivity in optical fibre is still a matter for extensive

5 - Introduction to Fibre Bragg Gratings

62

discussions and is out of the context of this thesis. For good reviews concerning the
photosensitization process, readers are referred to [86-88].

5.6

Summary

A brief introduction to fibre Bragg gratings was presented in this section. The phase
matching between forward and backward propagating fundamental fibre modes can
be achieved with a periodic variation of the effective index. The interaction is
quantified using the well known coupled mode equations. Analytical solutions for
these equations exist for the simplest case of a uniform grating. For useful devices
with low side lobes, in order to accurately discriminate between adjacent channels,
different fibre apodisations are used. The spectral response of gratings with arbitrary
apodisations is obtained by solving the coupled mode equations using an efficient
scattering matrix model. The concept of time delay and penetration depth of light in
the grating were introduced as well in order to optimise the performance of add-drop
multiplexers based on gratings inscribed in the waist of fibre couplers, discussed in
chapter 8.