Optik 124 (2013) 2234–2240

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Optik
journal homepage: www.elsevier.de/ijleo

Comparing and analysis of calculation methods of long-period fiber gratings

transmission spectra
Ying Yang a,b,c,1 , Zhengtian Gu b,∗
a
School of Optical-Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, PR China
b
Laboratory of Photo-Electric Functional Films, College of Science, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, PR China
c
School of Automobile Engineering, Linyi University, Linyi, Shandong 276005, PR China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Many methods are considered for calculating long-period fiber gratings (LPFGs) transmission spectra
Received 13 February 2012 such as integral method, formula method and transfer matrix method. In this paper, these methods are
Accepted 24 June 2012 analyzed based on the coupled-mode theory and their characteristics and the conditions of application
are pointed out. Exact solution for multi-mode transmission spectrum can be obtained directly by integral
method in a wide wavelength range, however, the computation process of this method is complicated.
PACS:
The formula method is convenient for calculating and expressing, but it can only solve single mode
4281D
transmission spectrum directly in a narrow wavelength range. The transfer matrix method is suitable
Keywords: for calculating transmission spectra of non-uniform fiber gratings, it has higher calculation accuracy and
Coupled-mode theory faster speed. Through the analysis and comparing with the three methods, we will provide a best method
Long-period fiber grating with high precision and simple calculation for long-period fiber gratings transmission spectra in theory,
Integral method which is important for the research and application of LPFGs.
Formula method © 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
Transfer matrix method

1. Introduction most accurate method in the three methods to get transmission

LPFG was first reported in 1995 as a kind of fiber devices
with photo-induced periodic modulation of the refractive index
in its core [1]. In 1997, Erdogan established the theoretical basis
of LPFG [2,3]. Recently, LPFG with grating period of several hun-
dred microns attracts wide attention due to its important potential
application in high sensitivity measurement and multiparameter
measurement in optical fiber sensing fields [4,5].
When the phase matching condition is fulfilled, LPFG can couple
light from forward-propagating core mode to forward-propagating
cladding modes, thus the transmission spectra of LPFG consist of a
series of loss peaks. As a new kind of optical fiber passive compo-
nent, the working principle of LPFG is closely related to the resonant
wavelength, so the research on the calculation of the transmis-
sion spectra becomes a key question. The integral method, formula
method and transfer matrix method are three common methods
for solving the transmission spectra. For an uniform LPFG, the grat-
ing waveguide coupling coefficient and the propagation constants
are both constants, the coupled wave equation satisfied the bound-
ary conditions can be solved strictly. The integral method is the
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 021 65667144; fax: +86 021 65667144.
E-mail addresses: lysyyy168@126.com (Y. Yang),
zhengtiangu@yahoo.com.cn (Z. Gu).
1
Tel.: +86 021 65667144; fax: +86 021 65667144.
spectrum by doing an integral to the coupled wave equations after
making some approximation to mode coupling mechanism.
Yariv proposed the formula method by simplifying the coupled
mode equation, which can be used to solve single cladding mode
transmission spectrum simply [6]. Ref. [7] gave the detailed deriva-
tion of this formula. For a non-uniform LPFG, it is very difficult
to obtain the strict solution of the coupling equations. Hill et al.
obtained the transmission spectrum through numerical iterative
regression of a group of the coupled integral equations [8]. Ker-
misch proposed the line matrix calculation method [9]. Kogelnik
deduced two coupled mode equations to a single Riccati differ-
ential equation to get the numerical solution [10]. Zeng Xiangkai
put forward the Fourier mode coupled theory to analyze the char-
acteristics of the LPFG for any axial refractive index perturbation
distribution [11]. These calculation methods are complicated. At
present, the transfer matrix method is especially suitable for cal-
culating the transmission spectrum of a non-uniform LPFG, which
is simple, accurate, and does not take a large amount of computa-
tion. In addition, there are other analysis and calculation theoretical
models of LPFGs, such as Bloch wave theory [12], WKB method [13],
LongGe coulthard method [14], scattering theory [15]. All of these
calculation methods are complex in theory or calculation.
In this work, the integral method, the formula method and the
transfer matrix method for solving LPFG transmission spectra are
investigated. With the same grating parameters, LPFG transmis-
sion spectra were numerically simulated by these three methods.

0030-4026/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijleo.2012.06.085
 Y. Yang, Z. Gu / Optik 124 (2013) 2234–2240 2235

Surrounding cl–co = 0 is the phase-matching condition of LPFG.

where ı1
(a) –01
Extramural cladding
co cl 2
ˇ01 − ˇ1 − =0 (4)
Long period fiber grating 
Core According to the expression ˇ = k0 neff , the phase-matching con-
Inner cladding dition can also be expressed as:

neff,co () − neff,cl () = ,  = 1, 2, 3, . . . (5)

(b) n n3 where neff,co () is the effective refractive index for the core mode
n1 which could be obtained by solving the core mode eigenvalue equa-
tion; neff,cl () is the effective index for the th cladding mode which
n2 could be obtained by solving the cladding mode eigenvalue equa-
n4 tion [2]. Both neff,co () and neff,cl () are functions of the wavelength.
The wavelength satisfying the Eq. (5) is called as the resonant wave-
a1 a2 a3
length. When the grating period is much longer, many resonant
Fig. 1. Three-cladding long-period fiber grating model. wavelengths may satisfy the Eq. (5). For various cladding modes,
there are different resonant wavelengths.
Suppose the center of the grating is the origin of the z-axis, the
Through analyzing and comparing the simulation results, the appli-
boundary conditions for a LPFG L in length are Aco (−L/2) = 1, and
cable conditions of each method are cleared. The results will
Acl
 (z = −L/2) = 0. The transmissivity through the grating is defined
provide a high accuracy and simple calculation method for calculat-
as:
ing LPFG transmission spectra, which is important for the research
and application of LPFG. Aco (L/2)
T= (6)
Aco (−L/2)
2. The Analysis of the three methods
Aco and Acl are solved by numerical integral method. In theory,
this method is accurate and can solve transmission spectra corre-
2.1. Integral method
sponding to multi-cladding modes in a wide range of wavelength
directly, however, it is complicated to obtain the solution of the
Fig. 1(a) is the structural diagram of LPFG; Fig. 1(b) shows the
coupled-mode equations.
refractive index profile of LPFG. The refractive indices of the core,
When the average refractive index change of grating area 
inner cladding, extramural cladding and surrounding are n1 , n2 , n3 ,
is large (≥10−2 ), the accuracy of this method decreases. Because
n4 , respectively; a1 , a2 , a3 are the radii of the core, inner cladding,
the coupled-mode theory is available only when the refractive
extramural cladding. The grating period is . The average refractive
index change is so small that can be regarded as perturbation
index change of grating area is .
approximatively. When  is more than 10−3 , the results between
While the modes are orthogonal in an ideal waveguide and
the experiment and the simulation are significantly different [11],
hence, do not exchange energy. The consistency of the optical
which indicates that the simplified numerical solution of the strong
properties of the optical fiber is destroyed when grating is writ-
grating is not ideal. One reason is the axial mode coupling and the
ten into the fiber, which will produce the dielectric perturbation.
coupling among cladding modes cannot be ignored. Another is that
This periodic perturbation along the longitudinal direction of the
there is difference between the LPFG we fabricated and the ideal
fiber makes the modes coupled in the core and the cladding. The
LPFG. This makes up the shortcomings of the original coupled mode
core mode will be coupled to the cladding modes when the phase-
theory when the refractive index modulation is big.
matching condition of LPFG is satisfied. So the transmission spectra
The parameters used in calculation are a1 = 2.625 ␮m,
of the LPFG consist a series of the loss peaks.
a2 = 62.4 ␮m, a3 = a2 + 300 × 10−9 ; n0 = 1.4681; n1 = 1.458, n2 = 1.45,
According to the coupled-mode theory, the coupled mode equa-
n3 = 1.5, n4 = 1.  = 4 × 10−4 ,  = 450 ␮m, L = 1.2 cm. Fig. 2(a)–(d)
tions that describe co-propagating interactions in a LPFG can be
shows the transmission spectra of LPFG for different cladding
simplified to [2]:
modes solved by the integral method, respectively. We can see
dAco m that the integral method can get several distinct loss peaks pro-
co–co co
= i01 – A +i cl–co Acl exp(−i2ı1
cl–co
–01 z) (1)
dz 01 2 1–01  duced by the coupling of the core mode to the different lower

order (v = 1–9) cladding modes in the transmission spectrum.
  dAcl m cl–co cl
 But when the cladding mode order is equal or more than 11, the
v cl–co intervals between adjacent loss peaks almost have no change,
= +i  A exp(+i2ı1 –01 z) (2)
dz 2 1–01 v just the transmissivities corresponding to the different cladding

modes change. The reason is that the energy of the cladding modes
where Aco is the amplitude for the core mode, Acl  is the amplitude decreases rapidly with the increase of the cladding mode order.
co–co and kcl–co are coupling constants
for the th cladding mode. k01 –01 1–01 For the higher order cladding modes, the loss peaks are so small
for the core-mode–core-mode coupling and core-mode–cladding- that could not be observed in the transmission spectrum. So the
mode coupling, respectively. They have relations with the radial calculation accuracy of the transmission spectrum for the higher
and azimuthal electromagnetic field components of the core mode cladding mode order is decreased.
and the cladding modes [16]. Because the index modulation only
exists in the core, the coupling between any two cladding modes 2.2. Formula method
can be neglected. ıcl−co
1−01
is a small-detuning parameter between
the core mode and the th cladding mode: For most LPFGs, there are about one or two hundred cladding
1
 2
 modes, so the solution of the coupled mode equations is very
ıcl−co
1−01
= co
ˇ01 cl
− ˇ1 − (3) complex. For a certain period fiber grating, there may be sev-
2 
eral cladding modes meet the resonance condition in a same
2236 Y. Yang, Z. Gu / Optik 124 (2013) 2234–2240

1 2

0 0

-1 -2

-2 -4
Transmission

Transmission
-3 -6

-4 -8

-5 -10

-6 -12

-7 -14

1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 -16

1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200
Wavelength /nm
Wavelength /nm
(a) ν = 1- 5
(b) ν = 1- 7

0
0

-5
-10
-10
Transmission

Transmission
-15 -20

-20
-30

-25
-40
-30

-35 -50
1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200

Wavelength /nm Wavelength /nm

(d) ν = 1 - 11
(c) ν = 1- 9

Fig. 2. Transmission spectra of LPFG for core mode coupling to different cladding modes solved by integral method.

wavelength range, so multiple loss peaks can be found in trans- The transmissivity of the LPFG is:
mission spectrum. The intervals of the two adjacent loss peaks
are usually dozens of nanos, which is much larger than the |R(L)2 |  ˆ 2 
T= = cos2 (L 2 + ˆ 2 ) + sin2 (L 2 + ˆ 2 ) (11)
bandwidths of loss peaks, so the coupling of the core mode to |R(0) | 2 2 + ˆ 2
only one cladding mode can be considered in a small wave-
length range. In order to reduce the numerical calculation, the The same grating parameters are used, the transmission spec-
Aco and Acl
 in Eqs. (1) and (2) can be transformed respectively as trum of LPFG for v = 7 solved by the formula method is shown
follows: in Fig. 3. The formula method can solve the transmission spec-
trum corresponding to a single cladding mode directly by using
i(co–co +cl−cl )z/2 i(−ıcl−co z)
Aco = R(z)e 01−01 11−11 e 1−01 (7) the expression (11). This method is convenient to calculate and
express, but cannot directly calculate the transmission spectrum
i(co–co +cl–cl )z/2 i(ıcl–co z)
corresponding to multi-cladding modes.
Acl
 = S(z)e
–
01 01 11 11 – e –
1 01 (8)

Then the coupled-mode equations can be simplified as binary

first-order complex differential equations: 0

dR -2
= iR(z)
ˆ + iS(z) (9)
dz
Transmission

-4

dS -6
= −iS(z)
ˆ + i∗ R(z) (10)
dz
-8
where R is the amplitude of the core mode, S is the ampli-
tude of the vth cladding mode,   = ıcl1––co01 + (01
co–co − cl–cl /2)
–01 11–11
-10

cl –cl
is the DC coupling coefficient, 11–11 is coupling constant for -12
the cladding-mode–cladding-mode coupling, here, 11 cl–cl = 0;  =
–11
– –  and k are constants.
1400 1450 1500 1550 1600 1650 1700 1750
cl co cl co∗
1–01 = 1–01 . For an uniform grating, both  Wavelength /nm
According to the boundary conditions, the special solutions R(z) and
S(z) of the linear equations (8) and (9) can be obtained. Fig. 3. Transmission spectrum of LPFG for v = 7 solved by formula method.
 Y. Yang, Z. Gu / Optik 124 (2013) 2234–2240 2237

The propagation through the ith uniform section is described by

a matrix Fi defined as:
 
Aco
i
Aco
i−1
=F (13)
Acl
i
Acl
i−1
Fig. 4. Schematic diagram of transfer matrix method for non-uniform grating.

where Acoi−1
and Acl
i−1
are the field amplitudes of the core mode and
the vth cladding mode at the incident end of the ith section along
z direction, respectively; Aco
i
and Acl
i
are the field amplitudes of the
2.3. Transfer matrix method core mode and the cladding modes after traversing the section i. The
transfer matrix Fi of the ith section can be expressed as follows:
For an uniform LPFG, the refractive index distribution in the fiber
⎡ ⎤
core is uniform, both the coupling coefficient and the propagation ˆ 
cos(z) + i sin(z) i sin(z)
constants can be regard as invariants along z axis, the coupled- ⎢   ⎥
Fi = ⎣ ⎦ (14)
mode equations meeting the boundary conditions can be solved.  ˆ
Both of the two methods above are applicative to solve the trans- i sin(z) cos(z) − i sin(z)
 
mission spectra of the uniform LPFG, but when the refractive index
distribution is nonuniform, the coupling coefficient and the prop- where k is the coupling constant between the core mode and the vth
agation constants change along z axis, the coupling equations will cladding mode [13]; ˆ is the total self-coupling coefficient which is
cannot get analytical solutions. Therefore, Agrawal et al. put for- defined as:
ward a matrix analysis method [17], in which the grating is divided co–co − cl–cl
01
cl–co –01 11–11 1 dϕ(z)
into a number of uniform pieces. The closed-form solutions for each ˆ = ı1 –01 + − (15)
2 2 dz
uniform piece are combined by multiplying matrixes associated
with the pieces. For the non-uniform fiber grating, k, ˆ and (1/2)(dϕ(z)/dz) are
For a non-uniform LPFG, when photosensitive fiber is exposured variable. After the non-uniform fiber grating is divided into several
in UV light, the spatial variation of the UV light intensity makes the sections, each section can be regarded as uniform. Then k, ˆ and
refractive index of the fiber core changed. Therefore, the refractive (1/2)(dϕ(z)/dz) changing along z direction could be solved.
index axial distribution of the fiber core can be expressed as: The characteristics of the grating region can be obtained as fol-
lows:

2z   
n(z) = n1 + n 1 + cos + ϕ(z) (12) Aco
M
Aco
0
(z) =F (16)
Acl
M
Acl
0

where n1 is the core refractive index before exposure; n is the where F = FM · FM−1 · · ·Fi · · ·F1 ; Aco and Acl are the amplitudes of the
0 0
average variation of the core refractive index after exposure; is core mode and the vth cladding mode at the incident terminal of the
the fringe visibility of the index change; (z) is the periodic distri- grating, respectively, Aco = Aco , Acl = Acl are the amplitudes of the
M L M L
bution function of the refractive index variation, for a non-uniform core mode and the vth cladding mode at the light output terminal
LPFG such as a linear chirped fiber grating, the period is no longer a of the grating.
constant, but a function of the axial coordinate z; ϕ(z) is the phase The power of the core mode and the cladding modes are nor-
shift of the chirped fiber gratings related to the origin, and can be malized as 1 and 0 at the input port, respectively. The boundary
2
expressed as: ϕ(z) = c(z/L) ; L is the grating length; c is the chirp conditions of the non-uniform fiber gratings are Aco = 1 and Acl = 0.
0 0
coefficient. The range of z is 0 ≤ z ≤ L. The transmissivity of the non-uniform LPFG is:
When the transfer matrix method is used to analyze a non-  co 2
uniform grating, the grating can be evenly divided into M segments,  AL 
each segment is uniform, as shown in Fig. 4. We divide the grating T =   = Aco

co∗
L × AL (17)
Aco
0
into M uniform sections, and the length of each section is z. M
may not be made arbitrarily large, thus we require z  , which Fig. 5 shows the transmission spectra for v = 7 solved by the
means we must maintain L/. transfer matrix method: (a) c = −0.05 nm/cm; (b) c = 0. In this case,

2
0
0

-2
-2
-4
Transmission

Transmission

-4 -6

-8
-6
-10

-8 c=0.05nm/cm -12
c=0 nm/cm
-14

-10
-16
1400 1450 1500 1550 1600 1650 1700 1750
1400 1450 1500 1550 1600 1650 1700 1750
Wavelength /nm
Wavelength /nm
(a)c=0.05nm/cm (b) c=0

Fig. 5. Transmission spectra of LPFG for v = 7 solved by transfer matrix method.

2238 Y. Yang, Z. Gu / Optik 124 (2013) 2234–2240

0 0

-2
-5

Transmission
Transmission

-4
-10

-6
-15
-8

-20
-10

-12 -25

1400 1450 1500 1550 1600 1650 1700 1750 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200

Wavelength /nm Wavelength /nm

Fig. 6. Transmission spectrum of LPFG for v = 7 solved by integral method. Fig. 8. Transmission spectrum of LPFG for v = 1–9 solved by transfer matrix method.

a non-uniform optical fiber grating can be equivalent to an uni-
form one. It can be seen that when the chirp coefficient is zero,
the transmission spectrum bandwidth gets narrow and the trans-
missivity increases, the reason for this is the coupling coefficient
decreases after introducing chirp [18].
3. Comparison and analysis of the three methods for
solving LPFG transmission spectra
Both the integral method and the formula method can solve
uniform LPFG transmission spectra. The integral method can solve
multi-mode transmission spectrum in a wide wavelength range
directly. It is accurate, but the computation is complicated. When
only one cladding mode is considered, the transmission spectrum
of LPFG for the coupling of the core mode to a single cladding mode
can be obtained. Fig. 6 shows the transmission spectrum for v = 7
solved by the integral method, it can be seen that it is almost the
same with that of the v = 7 loss peak in the multi-mode transmission
spectrum. The formula method is more convenient in expression
and calculation to solve single mode transmission spectrum, but it
cannot directly give the total transmission spectrum. Multiplying
transmission spectra of LPFG for the cladding mode order from 1
to 9 solved by formula method, the total transmission spectrum for
v = 1–9 can be obtained, just as Fig. 7 shows. One problem should be
pointed out is that the two kinds of methods above are no longer
applicable when the refractive index modulation is big [11].
The transfer matrix method can solve the transmission spec-
trum of the non-uniform LPFG for a single cladding mode. As the
formula method does, the total transmission spectrum can also
be obtained by multiplying transmission spectra of LPFG corre-
sponding to different cladding modes. Fig. 8 gives the transmission
spectrum of LPFG for v = 1–9 solved by transfer matrix method. This
method is suitable to calculate the transmission spectrum of the
non-uniform LPFG (such as chirp, phase shift) especially, but for
some transmission spectrum of LPFG with random axis refractive
index distribution, the calculation is complicated and difficult.
Fig. 9 gives the transmission spectra solved by the three meth-
ods respectively under the same grating parameters. We can see
that the difference of the calculation results between the formula
method and the integral method is smaller than that of between the
transfer matrix method and the integral method. Table 1 shows the
wavelengths corresponding to different cladding modes in trans-
mission spectra solved by the three methods, respectively. It is
indicated that the maximum difference of the wavelength calcu-
lated by the transfer matrix method and the integral method is
only 3 nm when the cladding mode order is 5, but the difference
of the two wavelengths calculated by the transfer matrix method
and the integral method reaches 6 nm, and the transmission spec-
trum shifts toward the shorter wavelength direction. The reason is
that both the coupling among the cladding modes and the chirp of
the grating are ignored, ˆ in expression (14) becomes small, so the
value of the resonance wavelength becomes small [19]. The analysis
above shows that the integral method is the most accurate method,
because it can provide the strict analytical solution by solving the
coupled–mode equations.
Table 2 indicates the transmissivities corresponding to differ-
ent cladding modes in transmission spectra solved by the three
methods respectively. The results obtained by the formula method
are different from that of by the integral method, the higher the
cladding mode order is, the bigger the difference is. When v = 9,
the maximum difference reaches to 9.19251 db. The difference
of the transmissivities between the transfer matrix method and
the integral method is smaller than that of between the formula
method and the integral method. So, when the grating is used as a

0 0

-5

-10 -10
Transmission

Transmission

-15

-20 -20

-25

-30 -30
transfer matrix method
-35 formula method
integral method
-40 -40

-45
1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200
Wavelength /nm Wavelength /nm

Fig. 7. Transmission spectrum of LPFG for v = 1–9 solved by formula method. Fig. 9. Comparison of the LPFG transmission spectra solved by the three methods.
 Y. Yang, Z. Gu / Optik 124 (2013) 2234–2240 2239

Table 1
The comparison of the wavelengths corresponding to different cladding modes in transmission spectra that solved by the three methods.

Cladding mode order Resonance wavelengths solved by the three methods (nm) Resonance wavelength difference (nm)

Integral method Formula method Transfer matrix method Formula method and Transfer matrix method
integral method and integral method

v=3 1440 1440 1437 0 3

v=5 1484 1485 1482 3 6
v=7 1564 1565 1561 1 3
v=9 1720 1715 1714 1 2

Table 2
The comparison of the transmissivities corresponding to different cladding modes in transmission spectra that solved by the three methods.

Cladding mode order Transmissivities solved by the three kinds of methods (db) Transmissivity differences (db)

Integral method Formula method Transfer matrix method Formula method and Transfer matrix method
integral method and integral method

v=3 −2.83316 −2.89469 −2.84169 0.06153 0.00853

v=5 −6.30485 −6.57883 −6.4253 0.27398 0.12045
v=7 −13.55087 −13.92421 −13.47217 0.37334 −0.0787
v=9 −30.61483 −39.80734 −25.43618 9.19251 −5.17865

sensor or regard transmissivity as a measured parameter, the for-
mula method will produce a bigger error, but when the grating is
used as a band-stop filter, the transmissivity has little influence on
bandwidth of a filter, the formula method can be chosen firstly.
When LPFGs are used as broadband filters and gain equalizers
etc., the bandwidth of the transmission spectra are mostly dozens
or several hundred nanometers, the differences of the transmission
spectra solved by these three kinds of methods are so small that can
be ignored. In these application situations, the formula method can
be firstly chosen to analyze the spectral characteristics, but when
LPFGs are used as high sensitivity sensors, the measurement accu-
racy demands for wavelength shift is higher, the measured values
of the wavelength shift are several nanometers usually, so the most
precise integration method should be chosen.
At last, what needed to be pointed out is that the three methods
above have two common defects. One is the change of the initial
phase induced by the refractive index change is ignored when the
uniform or non-uniform fiber is exposured in UV light. In fact, the
initial phase created during the exposure has big influence on the
spectrum [20], for example, the ␲/2 initial phase will produce large
reflection on both ends of the grating and Fabry-Perot cavity inter-
ference maybe appears. Another is the higher harmonic quantity
of the refractive index perturbation is ignored too. The refractive
index variation of the fiber grating written by general method is
not standard sine or cosine functions, so the refractive index varia-
tion can be expressed by Fourier series. When the grating period is
long, the higher harmonics will appear in the transmission spec-
trum [11]. Actually, the length of LPFG is limited and not ideal
(non-uniform), so there always exists high harmonics, which cause
calculation error.
4. Conclusion
It is important to choose an appropriate analysis method for
the research and application of LPFGs. The integral method can
gave the exact solution of the transmission spectrum in a wide
wavelength range, but the computation is complex. The for-
mula method is easier in expression and calculation, it can solve
the transmission spectrum corresponding a single cladding mode
within a small wavelength range, but it cannot directly calculate
the transmission spectrum corresponding multi-cladding modes.
Both methods above are suitable for solving the uniform LPFG
transmission spectrum, but when the refractive index modulation
is large, neither is accurate. The transfer matrix method is espe-
cially suitable for solving the transmission spectrum of the inerratic
non-uniform fiber grating, it is fast and takes a less amount of
computation, but it unfit to analyze the refractive index muta-
tions region and some complex waveguide structures. Comparing
the transmission spectra solved by the three methods, we can find
that the differences of the resonance wavelengths calculated by the
formula method and the integral method are very small, but the
differences of the transmissivities are big. The spectrum solved by
the transfer matrix method shifts several nanometers toward the
short wavelength direction relative to that solved by the integral
method, but the differences of the transmissivities are small. The
conclusions can provide theory basis for the optimization design
and application of LPFGs in optical fiber communication and sens-
ing fields.
Acknowledgments
This work is supported by National Science Foundation of China
(Grant No. 60777035), the Scientific Research Key Project Fund
(Grant No. 20840), the Research Project of Education Committee
of Shanghai (Grant No. 11ZZ131), and Shanghai Leading Academic
Discipline Project (Grant No. S30502).
References
[1] G. Agrawal, S. Radic, Phase-shifted fiber Bragg gratings and their applications for
wavelength demultiplexing, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 6 (8) (1994) 995–997.
[2] T. Erdogan, Cladding-mode resonances in short and long period fiber grating
filters, J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 14 (8) (1997) 1760–1773.
[3] T. Erdogan, Fiber grating spectra, Lightwave Technol. 15 (8) (1997) 1277–1294.
[4] G. Rego, R. Falate, O. Ivanov, J.L. Santos, Simultaneous temperature and strain
measurements performed by a step-changed arc induced long-period fiber
grating, Appl. Opt. 46 (2007) 1392–1396.
[5] K.C. Patra, R. Singh, E.K. Sharma, K. Yasumoto, Analysis of transmission charac-
teristics of long period gratings in tapered optical fibers, Opt. Soc. Am. 6 (2009)
95–100.
[6] A. Yariv, Coupled-mode theory for guided-wave optics, IEEE J. Quantum Elec-
tron. QE-9 (1973) 919–933.
[7] Z. Zhang, Theoretical Basis of Optical Fiber Grating and Sensor Technology, vol.
5, Science Press, 2009, pp. 143–148.
[8] K.O. Hill, A periodic distributed parameter optics, Appl. Opt. 13 (8) (1974)
1853–1856.
[9] H. Kogelnik, Filter response of nonuniform almost-periodic structures, Bell Syst.
Tech. J. 1 (55) (1976) 109–126.
[10] D. Kermisch, Nonuniform sinusoidally modulated dielectric grating, J. Opt. Soc.
Am. 11 (59) (1969) 1409–1414.
[11] K. Zeng, Y. Rao, Fourier mode coupling theory of long period fiber grating, Acta
Phys. Sin. 59 (12) (2010) 8607–8614.
[12] E. Peral, J. Capmany, Generalized bloch wave analysis for fiber and waveguide
grating, Lightwave Technol. 15 (8) (1997) 1295–1302.
[13] L. Poldian, Graphical and WKB analysis of nonuniform Bragg gratings, Phys.
Rev. E 48 (6) (1993) 4758–4767.
2240 Y. Yang, Z. Gu / Optik 124 (2013) 2234–2240
[14] Y. Liu, Z. Ye, Comparison of LongGe coulthard method and the transfer matrix
method to solve non-uniform long fiber grating problems, J. Jiangxi Normal
Univ. 25 (1) (2001) 57–61.
[15] A. Bouzid, M.A.G. Abushagur, Scattering analysis of slanted fiber gratings, Appl.
Opt. 36 (3) (1977) 558–562.
[16] C. Tsao, Optical Fiber Waveguide Analysis, Oxford University Press, New York,
1992.
[17] G.P. Agrawal, A.H. Bobeck, Modeling of distributed feedback semiconductor
lasers with axially-varying parameters, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 24 (1988)
2407–2414.
[18] W. He, W. Shi, S. He, X. Fan, A. Ye, Application of mode coupling theory in
circumference symmetrical long period fiber grating modeling, Opt. Technol.
28 (2) (2002) 155–157.
[19] D.V. Gregory, K. Thomas, Tuning attenuating, and switching by con-
trolled flexure of long-period fiber gratings, Opt. Lett. 26 (2) (2001)
61–63.
[20] X. Xu, Q. Wang, Theory research on linear chirped optical fiber grat-
ing used for EDFA gain flattening filters, Acta Photon. Sin. 38 (8) (2009)
2063–2065.