FINAL PROGRESS REPORT

STUDY AND MODELLING OF FBG BASED ACCELEROMETER

SUBMITTED BY:-
STUDENT NAME : RAUSHAN KUMAR
APPLICATION NUMBER: FENGS162
DEPARTMENT : ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGG.
PROJECT TITLE : FBG BASED ACCELEROMETER
COURSE GUIDE : Prof. S. ASOKAN
COURSE ADVISOR: Dr. SUNEETHA SEBASTIAN
DATE OF SUBMISSION:
 CONTENTS

1. Introduction 3
2. Fiber Bragg Grating
2.1. Fiber Bragg Grating & its properties 4
2.2. Types of Fiber Bragg Grating 9
2.3. Fabrication Techniques 11
2.4. Mathematical Description of FBG 15
2.5. Applications of Fiber Bragg Grating in communication 18
3. Accelerometer
3.1. FBG based accelerometer 19
3.2. Structures and Sensing Principle 19
3.3. Experiments and Results 21
3.4. Conclusion 22

2
Abstract :-Over the past decade, extensive studies and research have opened a new era
for Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) based sensing technologies. Now-a-days the proliferation of fiber
optic sensors and sensing systems has been ever increasing, especially the use of fiber Bragg
grating (FBG) based sensors. These sensors have been mainly relegated to research applications
with a few noted large-scale structural tests. The main sensing parameters for these tests have
been strain and temperature. One of the new applications is the FBG based accelerometers. In
various field applications, FBG based accelerometers are replacing conventional electronic sensors,
due to their long term stability, high accuracy and low power consumption.
This report includes all about FBG, its sensing principle and the functionality of FBG sensors as
accelerometers, aspects of commercially available instrumentation for monitoring the
accelerometers, and experimental characteristics.

1. Introduction
The discovery of fiber optics has revolutionized the field of telecommunications making possible
high-quality, high-capacity, long distance telephone links. Over the past three decades the
advancements in optical fiber have undoubtedly improved and reshaped fiber optic technology so
that optical fibers plus related components have become synonymous with
“telecommunication”. In addition to applications in telecommunications, optical fibers are also
utilized in the rapidly growing field of fiber sensors. Despite the improvements in optical fiber
manufacturing and advancements in the field in general, it has remained challenging to integrate
basic optical components such as mirrors, wavelength filters, and partial reflectors with fiber
optics. Recently, however, all this has changed with the ability to alter the core index of refraction
in a single-mode optical fiber by optical absorption of UV light. The photosensitivity of optical
fibers allows the fabrication of phase structures directly into the fiber core, called fiber Bragg
gratings(FBG). Photosensitivity refers to a permanent change in the index of refraction of the fiber
core when exposed to light with characteristic wavelength and intensity that depend on the core
material. The fiber Bragg grating can perform many primary functions, such as reflection and
filtering for example, in a highly efficient, low loss manner. This versatility has stimulated a number
of significant innovations. For a conventional fiber Bragg grating the periodicity of the index
modulation has a physical spacing that is one half of the wavelength of light propagating in the
waveguide (phase matching between the grating planes and incident light results in coherent back
reflection). Sometimes, reflectivity approaching 100% is possible, with the grating bandwidth
tailored from typically 0.1 nm to more than tens of nanometers. These characteristics make Bragg
gratings suitable for telecommunications, where they are used to reflect, filter or disperse light.
Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) has been widely accepted and applied in various of sensing and
monitoring fields such as industrial sensing, biomedical device, mechanical and civil engineering,
aerospace, and, oil and gas. Compared with other techniques, FBG sensor demonstrates a number
of distinguishing advantages: immunity to Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) radiation;
wavelength encoded; self-referencing; linear output; small and lightweight; Wavelength Division
Multiplexing (WDM) and Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) compatibility; mass producible;
durable; single and multi-point sensing . Due to these superior advantages, FBG shows enormous
potential of temperature, strain, pressure and radiation effect of sensing in smart structures and
polymeric materials.

3
Fig.1. Schematic representation of a Bragg grating inscribed into the core of
germanosilicate fiber. The period of the index of refraction variation is
represented by ʌ. A broadband light is coupled into the core of the fiber. Part of
the input light is reflected (at the Bragg condition) and the rest is transmitted.
The bandwidth of the reflected and transmitted light depends on the
characteristics of the Bragg grating, its length and depth of modulation index.

2.1. Fiber Bragg Grating and its properties

A fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is a type of distributed Bragg reflector constructed in a short segment
of optical fiber that reflects particular wavelengths of light and transmits all others. This is achieved
by creating a periodic variation in the refractive index of the fiber core, which generates a
wavelength dependent dielectric mirror. Therefore, fiber Bragg grating can be used as an inline
optical filter to block certain wavelengths, or as a wavelength specific reflector.
FBGs are intrinsic fiber elements in photosensitive fibers where index of refraction in the fiber core
is periodically modulated by illuminating with UV light. In uniform fiber Bragg grating where the
wave fronts are perpendicular to the fiber’s longitudinal axis with grating planes having constant
period (shown in Fig.2.) is considered the basic building blocks for most of the Bragg grating
structures. During, the guiding of light along the core of an optical fiber will be scattered by each
grating plane. If the Bragg condition is not satisfied, the reflected light from each of the
subsequent planes becomes progressively out of phase and will eventually cancel out.

Additionally, light that is not coincident with the Bragg wavelength resonance will experience very
weak reflection at each of the grating planes because of the index mismatch; this reflection
accumulates over the length of the grating . The Bragg grating condition is simply the requirement
that satisfies both energy and momentum conservation. Energy conservation

4
( ħωi= ħωf) requires that the frequency of the incident and the reflected radiation is the same.
Momentum conservation requires that the wave vector of the incident wave,k i, with the grating
wave vector ,k , equal the wave vector of the scattered radiation k f , which is simply stated as

Initial momentum before reflection=Final momentum after reflection

ki + k =kf …….. (1)
where the grating wave vector, k, has a direction normal to the grating planes with a magnitude
2π/λ (ʌ is the grating space shown in Fig.2). The diffracted wave vector is equal in magnitude, but
opposite in direction, to the incident wave vector. Hence the momentum conservation condition
becomes

2 = ………. (2)

which simplifies to the first order Bragg condition

λB =2neffʌ ……….(3)

where the Bragg grating wavelength, λB , is the free space centre wavelength of the input light that
will be back-reflected from the Bragg grating, and neff is the effective refractive index of the
fiber core at the free space centre wavelength.

Fig.2.Schematic of a uniform Bragg grating with constant index of modulation amplitude and period. Also shown are
the incident, diffracted, and grating wave vectors that have to be matched for momentum conservation .

For a uniform Bragg grating formed within the core of an optical fiber with an average refractive
index ‘n0’. The index of the refractive profile can be expressed as

5
 n(z)=n0 + Δn cos

……………(4)
Where Δn is the amplitude of the induced refractive index perturbation (typically 0.00001 to
0.001) and z is the distance along the fiber longitudinal axis. Using coupled-mode theory the
reflectivity of a grating with constant modulation amplitude and period is given by the following
expression

…………….(5)

where R(l, λ) is the reflectivity, which is a function of the grating length ‘l’ and wavelength λ. ƙ is

the coupling coefficient, Δᵦ = ᵦ- is the detuning wave vector, ᵦ = 2πn0/λ is the propagation

constant having medium index n0 and s2 = ƙ2-Δβ2 ,For any sinusoidal periodic variations of the
index perturbation the coupling coefficient, ƙ, is given by

Where signifies the fraction of power contained by the fiber core. In uniform grating

generally equals to 1-1/V2, where V is the normalized frequency

of the optical fiber, calculated as

Where a is core radius, is the index of core and is the refractive index of clad.

In an ideal case, at the center wavelength of the Bragg grating the detuning wave vector is Δβ = 0,
therefore the expression for the reflectivity becomes

R(l ,λ)=tanh2(ƙl)

6
The reflectivity increases as the modulation depth increases. Similarly, as the length of the grating
increases, so does the resultant reflectivity. Fig.3. shows a simulated reflection spectrum as a
function of wavelength of a uniform Bragg grating.

The side lobes of the resonance are due to multiple reflections to and from opposite ends of the
grating region. Using Fourier transform of a harmonic signal having finite extent, sinc function
arises while an infinitely long grating would transform to an ideal delta function response in the
wavelength domain.
A general expression for the approximate full-width-half maximum (FWHM) bandwidth of a grating
is given below as

where N is the number of grating planes. For strong gratings (approximately 100% reflection) s

holds, for weak grating it holds 0.4 or 0.5 approximately.

Fig.3. Schematic of simulated wavelength-dependent reflection spectrum of a Bragg grating with λ B=1550nm.

7
As the length of grating increases, line width of reflectivity spectra decreases illustrated as above
shown simulated schematic.

2.1.1.Strain and Temperature Sensitivity of FBGs

The centre wavelength of back reflected light from a Bragg grating, depends on the effective
refractive index of the core and the periodicity of grating space. The effective refractive index, as
well as the periodic spacing between the grating planes, is affected by changes in strain and
temperature. For a uniform Bragg grating formed within the core of an optical fiber with an
average refractive index no . The shift in Bragg’s wavelength due to strain and temperature is given
by the

] Δl +2 ΔT ……….(A)

Here first term in above equation represents the strain effect on an optical fiber. It
corresponds to a change in the grating spacing and the strain-optic induced change in
the refractive index. The above strain effect term may be expressed as

Where p12, p11,p22 are the strain optic tensor coefficient , v is the Poisson’s ratio and longitudinal

imposed strain = .

In equation (A), second term represents the effect of temperature on optical fiber. A shift in the
Bragg wavelength due to thermal expansion changes the grating spacing and the index of
refraction. This fractional wavelength shift for a temperature change ΔT may be written as

Where is the thermo-optic coefficients (approximately equal to 8.66* ) for a germanium-

doped, silica-core fiber and αʌ is the thermal coefficient of fiber (approximately 0.55* for

silica).It is apparent that any change in wavelength, associated with the action of an external
perturbation to the grating, is the sum of strain and temperature terms both. Therefore, in sensing
applications where only one perturbation is of interest, the deconvolution of temperature and
strain becomes necessary. A typical germanosilicate fiber exhibits a 1.2 pm shift in the centre
wavelength of the grating as a result of applying 1 με to the Bragg grating and

8
it exhibits 14 pm shifts in centre wavelength of grating per 1֯ C change in temperature.

Fig.4. Schematic of simulated strain variation and temperature variation charateristics vs shift in .

2.2. Fiber Bragg Grating types:-

Bragg gratings grow differently in response to particular inscription conditions and the laser used,
in addition to the optical fiber type and photosensitivity conditioning prior to inscription. The
gratings are characterized by four distinct dynamical regimes known as Type I, Type IA, Type IIA,
and Type II. The physical properties of these grating types can be inferred through their growth
dynamics and by measurement of thermally induced decay. Type IA are the least and Type II the
most stable gratings with increasing temperature. This is not surprising given that Type IA appears
to be a true colour centre grating and purely related to local electronic defects, Type I has both a
colour centre and densification element, Type IIA is related to compaction, and Type II is related to
fusion of the glass matrix.

Type I Fiber Bragg Gratings:- Type I Bragg gratings refer to gratings that are formed in normal
photosensitive fibers under moderate intensities. The growth dynamics of the Type I grating is

characterized by a power law with time of the form Δn .Written in both hydrogenated and

non-hydrogenated fiber of all types, type I gratings are usually known as standard gratings and are
manufactured in fibers of all types under all hydrogenation conditions. Typically, the reflection
spectra of a type I grating is equal to 1T where T is the transmission spectra. This means that the

9
reflection and transmission spectra are complementary and there is negligible loss of light by
reflection into the cladding or by absorption. Type I gratings are the most commonly used of all
grating types, and the only types of grating available off the shelf at the time of writing. Type I
gratings can be erased at relatively low temperatures, approximately 200֯C.
Nevertheless,Type I gratings are the most utilized Bragg gratings and operate effectively from -40
to +80֯C, this temperature range that satisfactorily covers most of the telecommunications and
some sensor applications.

Type IA Fiber Bragg Gratings:- Type IA gratings were first observed in 2001 during experiments
designed to determine the effects of hydrogen loading on the formation of IIA gratings in
germanosilicate fiber. In contrast to the anticipated decrease (or 'blue shift') of the gratings' Bragg
wavelength, a large increase (or 'red shift') was observed. It is the most recently revealed grating
type and may be considered a subtype of Type I gratings. (The transmission and reflection spectra
are complementary, thus this grating type is indistinguishable from Type I in some static situation.)
They are typically formed after prolonged UV exposure of a standard grating in hydrogenated
germanosilicate fiber, they can be readily inscribed in a suitably prepared optical fiber. The spectral
characteristics of Type IA gratings are unique; they are distinct from other grating types as they
exhibit a large increase in the mean core index that is identifiable as a large red shift seen in the
Bragg wavelength λB of the grating during inscription.

Type IIA Fiber Bragg Gratings:- Type IIA fiber Bragg gratings appear to have the same spectral
characteristics as Type I gratings. The transmission and reflection spectra are again complementary,
also rendering this type of grating indistinguishable from Type I in a static situation. However, due
to the different mechanism involved in fabricating these gratings, there are some distinguishable
features that are noticeable under dynamic conditions either in the initial fabrication or in the
temperature erasure of the gratings. Type IIA gratings are inscribed
through a long process, following Type I grating inscription . After approximately 30min of
exposure (depending on the fiber type and exposure fluence), the Type IIA grating is fully
developed. That’s why, Type IIA gratings are not very practical to fabricate. However, when the
grating is exposed to high ambient temperature, a noticeable erasure is observed only at
temperatures as high as 500֯C. A clear advantage of the Type IIA gratings over the Type I is the
dramatically improved temperature stability of the grating, which may prove very useful, if the
system has to be exposed to high ambient temperatures (as may be the case for sensor
applications). The key difference between the inscription of type IA and IIA gratings is that IA
gratings are written in hydrogenated fibers, whereas type IIA gratings are written in non-
hydrogenated fibers.

Type II Fiber Bragg Gratings:- A single excimer light pulse of fluence > 0.5 J/cm 2 can photo-induce
large refractive-index changes in small, localized regions at the core-cladding boundary, resulting in
the formation of the Type II grating. It can change results from physical damage through localized
fusion that is limited to the fiber core, and it produces very large refractive-index modulations
estimated to be close to 10-2. The reflection spectrum is broad and several features appear over
the entire spectral profile due to non-uniformities in the excimer beam profile that are strongly
magnified by the highly non-linear response mechanism of the glass core. Type II gratings pass
wavelengths longer than the Bragg wavelength, whereas shorter wavelengths are strongly coupled
into the cladding. Microscopic examination of these gratings showed a periodic damage track at
the grating’s site within the fiber ; hence type II gratings are also known as damage gratings.
However, these cracks can be very localized so as to not play a major role in scattering loss if

10
properly prepared. It is extremely stable up to more than 800֯C for several hours, its most superior
thermodynamic stability can be utilized for sensing applications in hostile environments .

2.3. FBG Fabrication Techniques:- Fiber Bragg gratings are created by "inscribing" or "writing"
systematic (periodic or aperiodic) variation of refractive index into the core of a special type of
optical fiber using an intense ultraviolet (UV) source such as a UV laser. Two main processes are
used: (i)Interference and (ii)Photomask(Phase mask). The method that is preferable depends on
the type of grating to be manufactured. Normally a germanium doped silica fiber is used in the
manufacture of fiber Bragg gratings. The germanium doped fiber is photosensitive, which means
that the refractive index of the core changes with exposure to UV light. The amount of the change
depends on the intensity and duration of the exposure as well as the photosensitivity of the fiber.
To write a high reflectivity fiber Bragg grating directly in the fiber the level of doping with
germanium needs to be high. However, standard fibers can be used if the photosensitivity is
enhanced by presoaking the fiber in hydrogen. Recently, fiber Bragg gratings have also been
written in polymer fibers

2.3.1. Interferometric Inscription of Bragg Gratings:- This was the first method used
widely for the fabrication of fiber Bragg gratings and uses two beam interference. Here the UV
laser is split into two beams which interfere with each other creating a periodic intensity
distribution along the interference pattern. The refractive index of the photosensitive fiber changes
according to the intensity of light that it is exposed to. This method allows for quick and easy
changes to the Bragg wavelength, which is directly related to the interference period and a
function of the incident angle of the laser light. In this method, an excimer-pumped dye laser
operating at a wavelength in the range of 486nm-500 nm was frequency doubled using a non-
linear crystal. This provided a UV source in the 244-nm band with adequate coherence length (a
critical parameter in this inscription technique). The UV radiation was split into two beams of equal
intensity that were recombined to produce an interference pattern, normal to the fiber axis. A pair
of cylindrical lenses focused the light onto the fiber and the resulting focal line was approximately
4 or 5mm long(in millimeter ranges) by 124-μm wide. A broadband source was also used in
conjunction with a high-resolution mono-chromator to monitor the reflection and transmission
spectra of the grating.

11
Fig.5. Schematic of UV interferometer for inscribing Fiber Bragg Grating in optical fiber. Note the use of an
additional phase plate mirror(mirror blank) in one arm to compensate for the path length Difference.

This method allows to choose the Bragg wavelength independently of the UV light wavelength as

Where, λBragg is Bragg reflection wavelength, neff is the effective mode index in fiber, nuv is the
refractive index of silica in UV, λuv is the wavelength of writing radiation and θ is the mutual angle
of two beam. In principle, a diffraction grating used in reflection can replace the 50% beam splitter
shown in above Fig.5. In this interferometer, two coherent beams are required, so that reflection
from a diffraction grating to divide the input UV beam into two is equally feasible. However, a
simpler component, the transmission phase-grating, otherwise known as the phase mask, is better
suited to this application.

2.3.2. Phase Mask :-A phase mask having the intended grating features is mostly used in the
manufacture of fiber Bragg gratings. The phase mask is placed between the UV light source and
the photosensitive fiber. The shadow of the photomask then determines the grating structure
based on the transmitted intensity of light striking the fiber. This is the one of the most effective
methods for inscribing Bragg gratings in photosensitive fiber is the phase mask technique . This
method employs a diffractive optical element (phase mask) to spatially modulate the UV writing
beam (Fig.6). Phase masks may be formed holographically or by electron-beam lithography.

12
Holographically induced phase masks have no stitch error, which is normally present in the
electron-beam phase masks. The phase mask grating has a one-dimensional surface-relief
structure fabricated in a high quality fused silica flat transparent to the UV writing beam. The
profile of the periodic surface-relief gratings is chosen such that when a UV beam is incident on the
phase mask, the zero-order diffracted beam is suppressed to less than a few percent (typically less
than 5%) of the transmitted power. KrF excimer lasers are the most common UV sources used to
fabricate Bragg gratings with a phase mask. The UV laser sources typically have
low spatial and temporal coherence. The low spatial coherence requires the fiber to be placed in
near contact to the grating corrugations on the phase mask in order to induce maximum
modulation in the index of refraction. The further the fibre is placed from the phase mask, the
lower the induced index modulation, resulting in lower reflectivity Bragg gratings. Clearly,
the separation of the fiber from the phase mask is a critical parameter in producing high quality
gratings.

Fig.6. Phase-mask geometry for inscribing Bragg gratings in optical fibers.

Here, the principle of operation is based on the diffraction of an incident UV beam into several
orders, m = 0, ±1,±2. ... This is shown schematically in Fig. 6. The incident and diffracted orders
satisfy the general diffraction equation, with the period of phase mask,ʌpm

ʌpm

13
where ,θm/2 is the angle of diffracted order, λuv is the wavelength of incident light wave and θi is the
incident angle.
With the UV radiation at normal incidence, θi = 0, the diffracted radiation is split into m = 0 and ±1
orders, as shown in Fig.8. The interference pattern at the fiber of two such beams of orders ± 1
brought together by parallel mirrors has a period ʌg related to the diffracted angle θm/2 by

ʌg=

Fig.7. Schematic of the diffraction of the incident beam from a phase mask

Fig.8. Schematic for diffracting of normally incident UV beam in two 1 orders.

The period ʌpm of the grating etched in the mask is determined by the Bragg wavelength λBragg
required for the grating in the fiber, using the following relation

ʌg=

14
where ,N 1 is an integer indicating the order of grating period.

15
2.3.3. Point-by-Point Fabrication of Bragg Gratings:- A single UV laser beam may also be
used to 'write' the grating into the fiber point-by-point. Here, the laser has a narrow beam that is
equal to the grating period. The main difference of this method lies in the interaction mechanisms
between infrared laser radiation and dielectric material multiphoton absorption and tunnel
ionization. In this method, a focused single pulse from an excimer laser produces each grating
plane separately. A single pulse of UV light from an excimer laser passes through a mask containing
a slit. A focusing lens images the slit onto the core of the optical fiber from the side and the
refractive index of the core increases locally in the irradiated fiber section. The fiber is then
translated through a distance ʌ corresponding to the grating pitch in a direction parallel to the fiber
axis, and the process is repeated to form the grating structure in the fiber core. Essential to the
point-by-point fabrication technique is a very stable and precise submicron translational system.
The main advantage of the point-by-point writing technique lies in its flexibility to alter the Bragg
grating parameters. Because the grating structure is built up a point at a time, variations in grating
length, grating pitch, and spectral response can easily be incorporated. One disadvantage of the
point-by-point technique is that it is a tedious process. Because it is a step-by-step procedure, this
method requires a relatively long process time. Errors in the grating spacing due to thermal effects
and/or small variations in the fiber’s strain can occur.

2.4. Mathematical Description of FBG:- Coupled mode theory has been successfully used to
describe the spectral properties of Bragg gratings. Refractive index variations with a period ʌ
Along the length of a fiber are generally expressed as

n(z)=no+ Δn(z) cos(2π/z + θ(z))

Here the functions Δn(z) and θ(z) are slowly varying functions compared to the grating period ʌ, n o
is the refractive index of the core and Δn(z) the envelope of the refractive index modulation. The
parameter, θ(z), defines locally the phase of the effective index modulation, which is used to
describe the phase shifts or grating chirp. For simplicity this introduction will consider unchirped
grating only, therefore θ(z) =0. Along the grating the forward propagating wave, v1, and backward
propagating wave ,v2, are related by the coupled mode equations as follows

…………..(x)

…………..(y)

16
Where the amplitude of the waves v1 and v2 are related to the amplitudes of the forward and
backward propagating electric field, A(z) and B(z) respectively

A(z)= v1

B(z)= v2

q(z) is the coupling coefficient is given by , q(z)=(π/2n oʌ)(Δn(z))

and δ reperesents the detuning from the Bragg grating resonance wavelength, λ Bragg = 2noʌ,
defined as δ=(2π/λ)no-(π/ʌ)

In the case of Bragg gratings where Δn varies along the grating length the spectral characteristics
can be obtained by solving the above differential coupled mode equations (x) and (y).The particular
case of a uniform grating has been solved analytically , the reflection coefficient
ρ = v1(δ)/v2(δ) and reflectivity R=|ρ|2 at the start of the grating (z=0) are

ρ(δ) =

R(δ)= …………….(z)

Where ϒ2= -

Some important features can be inferred from these results. Firstly it can be demonstrated
that maximum reflectivity Rmax occurs when the resonance condition is observed , i.e., δ=0
and is given by

Rmax= tanh2(ql) ………………(A)

17
And secondly the spectral bandwidth, Δλzeros ,defined as the two first zeros in reflectivity
computed using (z) yielding the following equation

…………….(a)

For strong grating where ΔnL>>λBragg the normalised bandwidth is approximated by

and for weak grating where ΔnL<<λBragg the normalised bandwidth is approximated by

When writing grating equations in fibers, equation(a) provides useful information about the
induced effective index change simply by measuring the spectral bandwidth of the grating .
Similarly for uniform gratings, the induced refractive index can also be calculated using (A),by
measuring the maximum reflectivity at the Bragg wavelength.
To fully understand the dispersive properties of fiber Bragg gratings the concept of group or time
delay must be introduced. For a uniform grating the time delay can be determined from the phase
of the reflection coefficient ρ defined in above mentioned equation of ρ(δ).If θ p=phase(ρ),then the

time delay, for the light reflected from a grating is defined as

p,

and the effective length, leff ,the particular wavelength travels within the grating before it returns to

the origin can be calculated from leff = c p/no .In uniform gratings, the minimum time delay occurs

18
at Bragg wavelength. For wavelengths near the edges of the grating bandwidth and the sidelobes
of the reflectivity, the dispersion is greatest with the time delay varying rapidly with wavelength.
Thus, large time delay are characteristics of this regime and due to these wavelengths suffering
multiple reflections before exiting the grating. Fig.9. shows the reflectivity spectrum and the time
delay for a uniform grating .The maximum reflectivity, which can be calculated from equ.(A),
corresponds to the minimum time delay . For wavelengths near the first reflectivity zeros, the time
delay is corresponding to several round-trips before the light exists the grating.

Fig.9. Calculated schematic of group delay(Solid line) and reflectivity(dashed line) for a uniform Bragg
grating.

2.5. Applications of Fiber Bragg Gratings:-

1. FBG for Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM)

2. FBG for optical add drop multiplexer (OADM)
3 .FBG as erbium-doped fiber amplifier Pump laser stabilizer
4. FBG as Optical amplifier gain flattening filter

Applications of FBG as sensors:-

19
1. For monitoring of bridges
2. In mines industry
3. In aircraft industry
4 .In electric power industry
5. For monitoring of power transmission lines

3. FBG based Accelerometer:- Generally speaking, an accelerometer is a device that detects

acceleration on certain objects. In order for a FBG to function as an accelerometer,the acceleration
must be coupled to a mechanical load on FBG through transducer. The load variation will impose
strain changes on FBG and therefore result wavelength shifts in the reflected light, by interpreting
the changes of light signal, the actual acceleration levels can be found, the signal transformation is
shown below in Fig.10

Fig.10. Detected signal transformation

The mechanical transducer of the accelerometer is typically configured as spring-mass system in
which the induced inertial mass displacement couples strain to a FBG element. The response
Sensitivity of such system is defined as the coupling efficiency between the FBG strain changes and
measured accelerations.

3.1. The Structure and Sensing Principle:-

The sensing function of an FBG derives from the sensitivity of both the refractive index and grating
period to the externally applied mechanical or thermal perturbations . The strain field affects the
response of an FBG directly, through the expansion and compression of grating pitch size and
through the strain-optic effect, that is, the strain-induced modification of the refractive index. The
FBG accelerometer proposed in this report can be simplified to a spring-mass system as it is based
on fiber vibrating wire. With the fiber’s spring coefficient given by K=EA/L, the system’s natural
frequency is:

…………3(a)

20
According to the Hooke’s law, if we exert a force F on the fiber along the axial, the shift of centre
wavelength ΔλB can be formulated as

Δ …………3(b)

Where Pe is the effective strain optic coefficient; is the modulus of elasticity of fiber; is the cross-
sectional area. As the fluctuation of temperature is ignored, the 3(b) can be transformed in
following equation given as below

F=ε …………3(c)

Here ε= ,When the shift of centre wavelength is small enough compared with its original

value, we treat Pe as a constant too. On combining 3(c) and F=ma, the acceleration of
mass is expressed as

ɑ=ε …………..3(d)

Where m is the mass of cubical transducer centered inside the accelerometer model. By analyzing
3(d), we can visualize that, once fiber is elected, the length of the horizontal and perpendicular
optical fiber and the mass of the cube will decide the maximal acceleration of accelerometer. If the
length of the optical fiber is fixed. Then, we can change the mass to adjust the system’s maximum
acceleration .Without considering the effect of temperature, the Δλ B change with the stress exert
on the FBG. Since the acceleration is proportional to λB. So, we can record the shift of centre
wavelength to detect the acceleration.

Table.1. Parameters of the above packaged FBG based accelerometer sensor :-

21
 Descriptions Values Unit Parameters
Length of accelerometer
sensor 5 cm L1
Width of the accelerometer
sensor 2.6 cm L2
Thickness of
accelerometer sensor 0.9 cm L3
Weight of cubical mass 2.7 g m
Elasticity of the material 70 GPa E
Length of fiber between 5
structure cm L’
Length of FBG 1.1 cm L’’
3.2. Experiments and Results:-
The required experimental set up used to test the accelerometer’s performance. Signal generated
by the generator and sequentially amplified by the power amplifier was used to provide the
sinusoidal excitation signal for vibration exciter. Vibration exciter will make the accelerator in
sinusoidal vibration which has the same frequency with original signal. Micron Optics Interrogation
analyzer which sampling frequency can reach 5 kHz is an integrated spectral engine simultaneously
covering multiple wavelengths for precise and rapid fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor system
measurements. The output signal of the FBG accelerometer was recorded and analyzed in a laptop
by an application implemented in the Enlight software. Influence of temperature is ignored
because the lab’s temperature varies slowly.
However, if the detection time is long enough, they should have a similar performance in
frequency domain.
Here, the peak-to-peak wavelength shift of FBG is monitored by using micron optics interrogator
(MOI) system with a resolution of 1 pm and sampling frequency of 5000 Hz.

22
Fig.11.Vibration signal of 100 Hz with 1G of accelerometer based on FBG

23
 Fig.12. Frequency spectrum of vibration signal

For each of the applied sinusoidal stimulus, the shift in Bragg wavelength is obtained and
sensitivity in terms of wavelength shift per unit change in acceleration is evaluated. All vibration
testing experiments are performed at constant room temperature. Sensitivity of a sensor is defined
as the change in output of the sensor per unit change in the parameter being measured . For the
developed accelerometer device, sensitivity is 62.4 pm/G .

3.3. Conclusion:-
An accelerometer based on fiber vibrating wire is presented. By adjusting the quality of transducer
mass, the system’s natural frequency can be set at a reasonable range. The fiber which is added to
the accelerometer can effectively decrease the cross-sensitivity. Besides that, we can also add a
matched FBG to eliminate the effect of temperature. In the various frequency range the
experimental resonance frequency is almost same with the theoretical resonant frequency. The
sensitivity is 62.4 pm/G at 100Hz, and it would be higher if the frequency is farther increased.

24
25