Sensors - IR(>0.9 microns)

We propose the use of poled silics fibers with electrooptic constant of the order of 10 to 20 pm/V for use in distributed optical sensors and communication applications. Recent work has shown that thermal poling of silica optical fibers exhibits second order nonlinearities. This fiber phenomena promises to have far reaching impact on all aspects of fiber communications. such as in-line modulators, second harmonic generation, distributes sensors, tunable fiber gratings and wavelength division multiplexing devices with the advantage of low loss and long interaction length. However, several problems need to be addressed before this phenomena can be harnessed for commercial applications. Therefore, we propose methods for, enhancing the electrooptic constant, stabilization of the built-in dipole moment with time and temperature, demonstration of a novel modulator concept which does not require a reference fiber, and a novel method of reproducibly side polishing a fiber to within a micron of the core which is essential for effective poling.