New fabrication techniques for optical fibre sensors and lasers

Abstract

The paper describes the fabrication of optical fibres of various novel designs, developed at the University of Southampton, which can have the properties of nearly zero birefringence, strong linear birefringence, strong circular birefringence or can behave as linear polarisers. A further new technique, also devised at Southampton, allows the incorporation of rare-earth ions into the core of a single-mode fibre. Such fibres have been operated as lasers and sensors. They have provided, for the first time, continuous operation at room temperature when pumped by a semiconductor laser diode, and have been operated as amplifiers and tunable optical sources. Single-pulse generation by Q-switching has also been achieved. Fibre lasers are simple, flexible, do not need accurate optical alignment and are relatively unaffected by environmental conditions.

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