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We present a method for synthesizing complex fiber Bragg gratings using femtosecond UV laser pulses and image projection from a small phase mask. Fiber gratings with arbitrary spectral reflectivity can be achieved by stitching short grating segments with proper phases. The relative phase between neighboring sub-gratings is controlled using in situ UV-excited fluorescence monitoring. During the fabrication, we are able to monitor the amplitude and phase of each segment right after it was written. This is accomplished by scanning the phase mask with attenuated UV laser pulses and observing modulation in fluorescence. This information allows us to precisely set the position of fiber for the next segment. A fabricated grating segment can also be effectively erased with additional out-of-phase UV exposure. Bragg gratings over both telecom C-band and L-band can be conveniently achieved with this simple setup and a single phase mask.

Using a simple optical setup to detect and characterize transmission gratings in the far field, we demonstrate that going beyond the diffraction limit is not possible using linear interaction of nonclassical illumination with the target grating. We also confirm that nonlinear optical interactions with the target grating, or with the optical medium around it, do allow improvement in resolution.

Optical interconnects can provide chip-to-chip data communication with much needed bandwidth as processor speed and density keep growing. Optical waveguides and couplers are essential components for implementing optical interconnections. Techniques for directly dispensing polymer waveguides in laser-ablated trenches on printed circuit boards and for fabricating optical couplers are presented for quick prototype of optical interconnects. High-quality UV curable polymer waveguides were routinely fabricated. High-efficiency couplers, blazed grating couplers on sloped waveguides, sloped facet metal film couplers, and reflective-undercut facet couplers can be fabricated by using excimer laser ablation.

A high-contrast optical switch for imaging partially coherent light (∼150 times the diffraction limit) requires that it have a large angular acceptance. We describe the development of a high-speed Pockels cell that uses a thin crystal to simultaneously achieve high-contrast (greater than 1800:1) and large-angular acceptance (greater than 7 mrad for a 5-mm aperture). A KD*P crystal was used in a longitudinal-mode configuration with plasma discharges forming low-resistance, high optical transmission electrodes to couple the switching voltage. Rise times of the switched optical pulse of the order of 500 ps were observed. Characterization of the device in the near and far fields was also performed.