A Highly Sensitive Fiber-Optic Refractive Index Sensor Based on an Edge-Written Long-Period Fiber Grating

A novel long-period fiber grating (LPFG) is edge-written without any destructive damage on the fiber based on the thermal shock and rapid cooling effects of the high-frequency CO₂ laser pulses exposure method in this letter. The refractive index disturbance induced by high-frequency CO₂ laser pulses mainly occurs in the edge region of the fiber cladding rather than in the fiber core. An edge-written LPFG with a resonant peak of ~18 dB is obtained using a standard telecommunication fiber. The experimental results show that such a novel LPFG structure has much higher refractive index sensitivity over conventional LPFGs side-written, which can be used as a refractive index sensor, or a tunable filter and modulator by controlling the refractive index sensitive film which is coated on the cladding of such an LPFG.