Er3+-doped fiber based, Mach-Zehnder interferometer with mechanically induced long-period fiber gratings

There are a few semi-conductor, multiple-wavelength, high-performance sources already available for ITU-T channel generation in DWDM systems. The 200 Ghz barrier has imposed a limitation to such sources. An option for overcoming such a limitation is a super-continuum, all fibre source working in the amplified spontaneous emission regime. Furthermore, in this work we propose an Er-doped fiber based Mach-Zehnder interferometer, made with mechanically-induced, long-period fiber gratings, which generate a fringe pattern ranging from 1450 to 1650 nm. These characteristics are of great interest for the development of all-fiber devices that could produce and even select a few channels in the 1550nm region, the transmission window of interest for ultra-long haul optical communication systems. A full set of optical characterization and results will be included in the presentation.