Fiber Bragg Gratings

International Journal of Electrical Engineering Education, Apr 2002 by Ghassemlooy, Z

R. Kashyap, Fiber Bragg Gratings, Academic Press, 1999, 458 pp., L69.95.

Fibre Bragg gratings (FBGs) represent a key element in the established and emerging areas of optical fibre communication systems and optical fibre sensors. In optical fibre communications systems FBGs may be used for channel selection, channel blocking, narrow band mirrors for lasers, or compact devices for compensating for pulse spreading during propagation, and optical cross-connects. In optical sensors they may also be used for strain, temperature and gas measurement. The past few years have seen considerable research activity in this area, and as a result a vast quantity of papers have been published, including a number of interesting review papers. However, there are only a few textbooks on this topic, which cover the fundamentals and applications of FBG. This textbook is one the first books on the subject of FBGs. It provides a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of the subject, written by a pioneer in the field of optical communications.

The book is composed of nine chapters, with chapter one giving an introduction to the field, followed by a detailed description of photosensitivity and photosensitization of optical fibres in chapter two. The process and method used for both holographic and nonholographic grating inscription are covered in chapter three, while the comprehensive theory of FBGs is presented in chapter four. A condensed yet precise account of apodization of fibre gratings is dealt with in chapter 5. Chapter 6 informs the reader of one of the FBGs applications, namely the fibre grating band-pass filter, which is covered in depth. Chapter seven explores the world of chirped fibre Bragg gratings. Chapter eight covers fibre grating semiconductors, rare-earth doped fibre, erbium-doped fibre, and distributed feedback fibre lasers, together with fibre grating resonant Raman amplifiers. Finally, measurement of reflection and transmission spectra of Bragg gratings and characterization of FBGs are covered in the last chapter. There are more than 500 references, many interesting illustrations, and measured and predicted plots. It is an interesting book, which is suitable for those working in this field, and undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Z. Ghassemlooy Sheffield Hallam University