Characterization of Pressure Response of Bragg Gratings in Grapefruit Microstructured Fibers

In this paper, the pressure response of fiber Bragg gratings in grapefruit microstructured fibers was experimentally investigated and theoretically analyzed with full-vector finite element method. The theoretical calculation agrees well with the experimental results. The pressure changes the refractive index and induces axial strain of the fiber. The radial pressure induces positive strain, but axial pressure induces negative strain. The negative strain dominates. The existence of large air holes make grapefruit microstructured fibers experience larger negative strain than standard single-mode fiber, therefore fiber Bragg gratings in grapefruit microstructured fibers have larger pressure sensitivity than that in SMF.