Effect of the refractive index change kinetics of photosensitive materials on the diffraction efficiency of reflecting Bragg gratings

Experimental and modeled dependencies of the induced refractive index on dosage of UV exposure in photo-thermo-refractive glass for different thermal treatment regimes are presented. Resulting spatial profiles of refractive index modulation in a reflecting Bragg grating recorded by a holographic technique are computed, and corresponding diffraction efficiencies are modeled. It is shown that nonlinearity of the photosensitivity response is responsible for spatial distortions of a recorded grating that result in a decrease of the diffraction efficiency. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America