Automatic arc discharge technology for inscribing long period fiber gratings

We experimentally demonstrate an automatic arc discharge technology for inscribing high-quality long period fiber gratings (LPFGs) with greatly improved inscription efficiency for single mode fiber (SMF) and photonic crystal fiber (PCF). The proposed technology was developed by implementing an embedded program in a commercial fusion splicer. In addition, the improved technology employs an ultraprecision motorized translation stage, and the tensioning mass required by conventional technology was eliminated. While hundreds of arc discharges are generally required by conventional technology, only 30 and 60 arc discharges were required to inscribe LPFGs with dip attenuations of 30 and 20 dB for SMF and PCF, respectively.