Optimization of tap couplers made by the FBT process

Douglas R. Moore; Z. X. Jiang; Vincent J. Tekippe

doi:10.1117/12.345531

2 January 1998 Optimization of tap couplers made by the FBT process

Douglas R. Moore, Z. X. Jiang, Vincent J. Tekippe

Proceedings Volume 3211, International Conference on Fiber Optics and Photonics: Selected Papers from Photonics India '96; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.345531
Event: International Conference on Fiber Optics and Photonics: Selected Papers from Photonics India '96, 1996, Madras, India

Abstract

Tap couplers with small coupling ratios (1-10%) play a critical role in monitoring optical fiber systems such as optical amplifiers. They are often used in a feedback control loop and hence must exhibit extreme stability. Very small changes in the operating characteristics of the taps can be interpreted as changes in laser power giving rise to instability in the amplifier gain. Tap couplers made by the fused biconical taper (FBT) process are inherently stable with regard to temperature and, thus, this is usually not a concern. Of much greater significance are the wavelength dependence and polarizastion sensitivity of the tap ratio. Wavelength dependence can be minimized by introducing a mismatch in the propagation constants between the two fibers, but it is also influenced to a lesser extent by the coalescence of the fibers. On the other hand, polarization sensitivity is primarily dependent on coalescence and only somewhat dependent on propagation constant mismatch. As a consequence, it is necessary, in practice, to trade off wavelength dependence against polarization sensitivity in order to optimize the overall stability of the tap coupler. We report here the results of such an optimization study, consistently yielding taps with less than 0.5 dB total change in the insertion loss of the tap leg due to all effects.

Citation Download Citation

Douglas R. Moore, Z. X. Jiang, and Vincent J. Tekippe "Optimization of tap couplers made by the FBT process", Proc. SPIE 3211, International Conference on Fiber Optics and Photonics: Selected Papers from Photonics India '96, (2 January 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.345531

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