Analysis of temperature dependence for a ratiometric wavelength measurement system using SMS fiber structure based edge filters

Temperature dependence of an edge filter based on singlemode-multimocle-singlemode (SMS) fiber structure is investigated numerically and experimentally. The experimental results and numerical results are in good agreement within an operational temperature range from 10 degrees C to 40 degrees C. It is found that the thermo-optic coefficient (TOC) has a more significant effect on the temperature dependence of an SMS edge filter compared to the thermal expansion coefficient (TEC). In the ratiometric wavelength measurement using two SMS edge filters, a small temperature variation can induce the ratio variation and in turn the wavelength measurement error. It is found the SMS edge filter's response to both wavelength and temperature is linear. It is proposed that self-monitoring of temperature can be carried out using an updated ratiometric scheme. Self-monitoring of the temperature reduces temperature induced wavelength error to +/- 0.7 pm at 1545 nm, regardless of the ambient temperature variation. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.