Investigation on temperature characteristics of weak fiber Bragg gratings in a wide range

A weak fiber Bragg grating (WFBG) is an ideal quasi-distributed optical fiber sensor. Special attention should be paid to the spectrum and sensing performance of the WFBG at extreme temperatures due to its poor reflection intensity. In this Letter, the temperature characteristics of the WFBG from −252.75°C to 200.94°C are experimentally investigated. Five WFBGs with reflectivity from ∼0.25% to ∼10% are used in the experiments. The reflectivity variations and wavelength shifts at different temperatures are studied. Experimental results show that the WFBG can survive and work at extreme temperatures, but the performance is affected significantly. The reflectivity is affected significantly by both cryogenic temperature and high temperature. The temperature responses of Bragg wavelengths in the wide temperature range are also obtained.