Photosensitivity and stress changes of Ge-free Bi-Al doped silica optical fibers under ArF excimer laser irradiation.

The photosensitivity of germanium free Bi-Al-doped silica fibers with different bismuth concentrations was investigated using ArF excimer laser radiation at 193 nm and fiber grating formation. For the fiber with the highest bismuth concentration maximum refractive index changes of 2.2 × 10(-3) and 2.0 × 10(-4) were obtained for hydrogen loaded and unloaded fibers, respectively. Irradiation induced tensile stress changes were observed in the fiber core of H(2)-loaded and unloaded fibers. The results indicate a contribution of compaction to the total refractive index change in both cases.

Absence of UV-induced stress in Bragg gratings recorded by high-intensity 264 nm laser pulses in a hydrogenated standard telecom fiber.

We report on photochemical two-photon Bragg grating preparation in hydrogenated fiber without any UV-induced stress in the core or cladding, leaving only the color-center model responsible for refractive index changes for UV femtosecond irradiation. Without hydrogen loading strong stress changes are observed in the core and in the cladding indicating glass compaction. The irradiation does not change the inelastic strains, in contrast to H(2)-loading.