Surface-relief fiber Bragg gratings for sensing applications.

We present a new type of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) in which we etch the grating into the flat surface of a D-shaped optical fiber. Instead of being written in the core of the fiber, as are standard FBGs, these surface-relief FBGs are placed in the cladding above the core. These gratings are a viable alternative to standard FBGs for sensing applications. We describe the fabrication process for etching Bragg gratings into the surface of D-fibers and demonstrate their performance as temperature sensors.