Microfiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer embedded in low index polymer
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2012
Abstract
Microfiber Mach Zehnder Interferometer (MMZI) is demonstrated by micromanipulating an optical microfiber drawn from a single mode fiber (SMF) using a flame brushing technique. The MMZI shows good interference fringes with an extinction ratio of 13 dB and a free spectral range (FSR) of 0.52 nm at 1530 nm. The MMZI is then embedded in a polymer with the refractive index of 1.36 to increase the stability and robustnes of the device. It is found that the transmission spectrum of the packaged MMZI is changed by the polymer, which increases the FSR to 0.83 nm. The degradation in transmission loss and extinction ratio are attributed to the disturbance at the coupling area during the packaging. Compared with waveguide based mach zehnder interferometer, the proposed MMZI is favoured due to easy fabrication, compact size, and easy integration with the fiber system.
Keywords
Microfiber, Microfiber devices
Divisions
fac_eng,PHYSICS
Funders
MOSTI,Academic of Science Malaysia: BrainGain Program,University of Malaya: UMRG (RG108/11AET)
Publication Title
Optics & Laser Technology
Volume
44
Issue
4
Publisher
Elsevier