Long-period cascaded fiber taper filters

Fiber filters based on periodic cascaded tapered fiber sections are demonstrated. The filters consist of up to seven tapered sections separated periodically by more than 3 mm from center to center, with nominal tapered sections of 1  mm×1  mm×1  mm longitudinal dimensions. The transmission spectrum consists of discrete notches, resembling those observed in long-period fiber gratings, which differs from the observed spectrum in Mach-Zender interferometers based on cascaded tapers. Its sensitivity to external perturbations, such as refractive index or mechanical stress, made the device potentially very useful as a sensor or tunable filter.