Tuning properties of long period gratings in photonic bandgap fibers

We investigate the thermal tuning properties of long period gratings (LPGs) in a fluid-filled photonic bandgap fiber (PBGF). The combination of strong, resonant waveguide dispersion, characteristic of all PBGF modes, and the large thermo-optic coefficients of fluids yields highly tunable grating resonances. We measure grating resonances in three transmission bands with large tuning coefficients of up to -1.58 nm/degrees C, which match numerical results. We derive an analytic model for the PBGF LPG tuning coefficient to show how it depends on both the shift of the transmission bands and the dispersion of the coupled modes. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.