Optical Fibre Holographic Gratings.

Available from UMI in association with The British Library. Requires signed TDF. A report of the experimental investigation into the parameters affecting the formation of holographic-type gratings into various types of optical fibres is presented in this thesis. The reader is introduced to the concept of this type of gratings as well as alternative devices and methods of fabrication; a brief survey of past work on the topic is also presented. Following that, the reader will find a detailed account of the experimental method adopted and a thorough discussion of the various techniques, materials, types of fibres and ideas applied and developed during the period of this work. Various results and a discussion of the most interesting features follows and in the light of these results, the principles underlying a theoretical model that simulates the experimentally observed behaviour are discussed. This model encompasses both the Fabry-Perot cavity nature of fibres as used in these experiments and the distributed reflection brought about by the growth of periodic microstructures in the fibres and described by coupled model theory. Plots of numerically calculated results generated by this model are presented and further conclusions about the parameters affecting the gratings formation are drawn. Finally, a discussion of the most important aspects of this work and suggestions for future work conclude this thesis.