Ultracompact Intrinsic Micro Air-Cavity Fiber Mach-Zehnder Interferometer

• Published in: IEEE photonics technology letters Vol. 21; no. 15; pp. 1027 - 1029
• Main Authors: Minkyu Park, Minkyu Park, Sejin Lee, Sejin Lee, Woosung Ha, Woosung Ha, Dae-Kyu Kim, Dae-Kyu Kim, Woojin Shin, Woojin Shin, Ik-Bu Sohn, Ik-Bu Sohn, Kyunghwan Oh, Kyunghwan Oh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01-08-2009; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: All-fiber device; Fiber lasers; interference filter; laser micromachining; Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI); Optical attenuators; Optical fiber couplers; Optical fiber devices; Optical fiber sensors; Optical fibers; Optical filters; Optical interferometry; Optical sensors; Ultrafast optics
• ISSN: 1041-1135; 1941-0174
• DOI: 10.1109/LPT.2009.2021278

A compact intrinsic fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated by incorporating a micro air-cavity ablated by femtosecond laser irradiation. A short cavity of length ~ 10 mum along the single-mode fiber core provided two optical paths: one propagating through the air and the other guided along the ring-shaped silica cladding. A spectral analysis confirmed MZI in a good agreement with experimental results. Temperature-dependent spectral shifts were measured and analyzed.