Abstract

The photosensitivity of Ge-doped optical fiber was originally discovered by observing a spontaneous growth of the reflection of incident argon laser light due to the formation of a Bragg grating. it was demonstrated that this spontaneous and sustained growth is possible because the period of the grating shifts at the same time that the grating is written.¹ This shift generates an out-of-phase reflection contribution that allows a dynamic exchange of power between the forward and backward waves. We show that a similar dynamic coupling can be observed during the formation of interpolarization couplers.

© 1992 Optical Society of America