Measuring temperature profiles in high-power optical fiber components

We demonstrate a new method for measuring changes in temperature distribution caused by coupling a high-power laser beam into an optical fiber and by splicing two fibers. The measurement technique is based on interrogating a fiber Bragg grating by using low-coherence spectral interferometry. A large temperature change is found owing to coupling of a high-power laser into a multimode fiber and to splicing of two multimode fibers. Measurement of the temperature profile rather than the average temperature along the grating allows study of the cause of fiber heating. The new measurement technique enables us to monitor in real time the temperature profile in a fiber without the affecting system operation, and it might be important for developing and improving the reliability of high-power fiber components. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America.