Using microcontact printing to generate amplitude photomasks on the surfaces of optical fibers: A method for producing in-fiber gratings

This letter describes a method for producing in-fiber gratings that reduces the effects of mechanical and optical instabilities limiting other methods. In this technique, opaque lines formed on the outside of the fiber using a procedure known as microcontact printing, serve as an amplitude photomask for exposure to ultraviolet light. Long-period fiber optic attenuators formed by ths technique demonstrate its advantages. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.