| 摘要 |
The present invention provides a method for annealing an optical waveguide, including an optical fiber or large-diameter waveguide structure, having along some length an induced refractive index difference that decays over time and so causes drift in the wavelength of reflected light when broadband light is inserted into the optical waveguide. The method uses an assumed decay formula for the induced refractive index difference indicating how the induced refractive index difference decays over time, the assumed decay formula having parameters that depend on temperature. The method includes the steps of: determining the (temperature dependent) parameters in the assumed decay formula for both an operating temperature and an annealing temperature, the annealing temperature being higher than the operating temperature, by fitting the observed decay over a measuring time at the two temperatures; and determining an anneal time at the annealing temperature based on a maximum allowed drift at the operating temperature. In operation, an optical waveguide is then annealed at the anneal temperature for the anneal time to provide a heat treatment (annealing) process for stabilizing Bragg gratings inscribed in the optical waveguide.
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