Apparatus and Method of Modifying the Birefringence in Optical Fibres

The invention relates to optical fibre devices and methods of tuning the birefringence of waveguides, especially to all-fibre optical devices which have undergone microstructuring. Embodiments of the invention include an optical fibre device (10) such as a tunable birefringent optical fibre having a core region (12), a cladding layer (14) therearound, and a controllable active material (18) selectively disposed in, for example, capillaries or pockets (16) formed in the cladding layer. The active materials include, for example, electro-optic material, magneto-optic material, photorefractive material, thermo-optic material and/or materials such as laser dyes that provide tunable gain or loss. The application of, for example, temperature, light or an electric or magnetic field modifies the optical properties of the active material, which, in turn, modifies the propagation properties of optical signals in the device. The optical device can include a tapered region or long period grating that causes the core mode to spread or couple into the cladding region and, simultaneously, allows the active material to be relatively close to the propagated modes, thus allowing interaction between the active material and the propagating modes. The invention relates to optical fibre devices and methods of tuning the birefringence of waveguides, especially to all-fibre optical devices which have undergone microstructuring. Embodiments of the invention include an optical fibre device (10) such as a tunable birefringent optical fibre having a core region (12), a cladding layer (14) therearound, and a controllable active material (18) selectively disposed in, for example, capillaries or pockets (16) formed in the cladding layer. The active materials include, for example, electro-optic material, magneto-optic material, photorefractive material, thermo-optic material and/or materials such as laser dyes that provide tunable gain or loss. The application of, for example, temperature, light or an electric or magnetic field modifies the optical properties of the active material, which, in turn, modifies the propagation properties of optical signals in the device. The optical device can include a tapered region or long period grating that causes the core mode to spread or couple into the cladding region and, simultaneously, allows the active material to be relatively close to the propagated modes, thus allowing interaction between the active material and the propagating modes.