Comparison of transverse load sensitivities of fibre Bragg gratings in different types of optical fibres

The response of optical fibre Bragg gratings (FBG) to transverse load was found to be significantly different for FBGs inscribed in two different types of single mode optical fibres. The transverse load sensitivity, defined as the relative wavelength separation of the birefringence-induced FBG double-peaks per transverse line-force, was found to be Cq = (45.1 ± 1.5)10 -9 1/N/m for a moderately GeO 2 doped (GF1B) and Cq = (48.5 ± 1.0)10 -9 1/N/m for a highly GeO 2 doped (PR2008) optical fibre. These data are important for a complete characterization of the opto-mechanical behavior of FBG sensor elements inscribed in different types of single mode optical fibres.