We apply standard emission and absorption techniques in conjunction with the side-illumination fluorescence (SIF) technique to characterize both co-polymer and dye-doped polymer fibers and fiber preforms. Highly reproducible co- copolymer and dye-doped polymer fiber fabrication is of great interest for many nonlinear optical applications. However, aggregation and environmental breakdown often affect the quality of the fiber. We quantify these effects in both the bulk and fiber geometries using emission and absorption techniques.
We apply the side-illumination fluorescence (SIF) technique to study the excited states of ISQ molecules in polymer optical fibers (POFs). Fluorescence from ISQ-doped POFs is used as a broad wavelength light source to characterize aggregate electronic states of the ISQ dye. We show that a model which accounts for inhomogeneous broadening characterizes the J-aggregate like excited sate in highly concentrated ISQ-doped poly(methyl methacrylate) multimode fibers. These aggregate states are undetectable using standard transmission spectroscopy technique due to the large absorbance on resonance and are typically red-shifted 100-150 nm from the dominant excited state. The classification of the formation of aggregate states off- resonance is important for both linear and nonlinear optical device applications.
Fluorescence from squaraine dye-doped polymer optical fibers (POFs) is utilized to measure the linear absorption coefficient as a function of wavelength. By illuminating dye- doped POFs from the side with an appropriate wavelength, the fluorescence generated propagates down the length of the fiber. The attenuation of the fluorescence can be measured as a function of propagation distance by moving the laser source or the fiber in the propagation direction. From this measurement the linear absorption coefficient can be calculated. The benefits of the side-illumination fluorescence (SIF) method are that it is non-destructive and it accurately measures small values of the linear absorption (off-resonance) for a wide range of wavelengths from a single wavelength source. Accurate measurements of the off-resonance absorption are crucial for modeling communication systems and optical logic devices.
Loss measurements for dye-doped polymer optical fibers are reported. These losses can contribute to the degradation of information in communications systems and limit the effectiveness of optical modulators built from nonlinear polymer optical fibers. Therefore it is essential that loss mechanisms be studied to determine which
dyes can be used successfully. rThansverse scattering and successive-cut-and-measure techniques are compared. The benefit of the transverse loss measurement is that it is non-destructive while the successive-cut-and-measure method is simple albeit time consuming. Along with a characterization of linear absorption, the transverse loss technique provides a way to quantitatively describe the inhomogeneities in these fibers by providing the means for calculating the correlation length (to be described in the text) of the fiber that is measured.
We report on the all-optical switching characteristics of a single-mode polymer optical fiber with a squaraine dye-doped poly(methyl)methacrylate core using a Sagnac interferometer.
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