Fiber Optics and Photonics

Fiber Optics and Photonics Division (Formerly known as optical communication fiber) has a long history of research on fabrication of silica based optical fibre. The institute had initiated R&D on fibre optics in early 80’s towards establishing indigenous capability of fabricating different kinds of fibre. Dr. Prasenjit Saha, Head of Phase Equilibrium Research Laboratory (PERL) established this Laboratory in the name of Optical Communication Fiber (OCF). With an initial funding from CSIR, a group of scientists, engineers and technicians came forward to build up a facility for fabricating preforms by MCVD (modified chemical vapour deposition) technique and subsequently drawing of fibres.

Now-a-days, specialty optical fibers are the driving force for development of fiber optics based optical components and devices ranging from communications, oil and gas exploration to laser surgery, high power lasers, automotive and aerospace. FOPD is the only research laboratory in India that is well-equipped with a fabrication facility for specialty optical preform using Modified Chemical Vapour Deposition (MCVD) coupled with solution doping technique as well as Vapour Phase Chelate Delivery and fiber drawing facility of customized dimensions using Fiber Draw Tower which is being extensively used to realize targets achieved so far.  Apart from that, FOPD also has the expertise to produce specialty optical fibers doped with transition metals (TM) like Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Bi, etc. Technologies for other specialty fibers like radiation resistant fiber and photonic crystal fiber (PCF) have also been developed. Till now, FOPD has demonstrated the process technology for making of core pumping erbium doped optical fibers (holding Indian as well as USA patent) for low power optical amplifier , cladding pumping  Er/Yb codoped fibers  ( filed Indian as well as USA patent ) for high power optical amplifier, Core and Cladding pumping Yb doped optical fibers (granted USA patent )for fiber lasers and supplied such kind of fibers to various Indian academic Institutes, IITs , Defence Labs, BRNS, RRCAT etc. and some Indian photonic Industries such as M/s SFO Technologies Pvt. Ltd.-Kochi, M/s. Vinvish Technologies Pvt. Ltd .

FOPD fiber laser team has extensive skill in numerical simulation of non-linear pulse propagation in optical fiber, modeling of CW and pulsed fiber laser and designing different types of waveguides using software platforms like COMSOL Multiphysics, MATLAB, and Python. During the last ~10 years, FOPD has developed significant facilities and expertise to make various type of fiber laser at 1.0- and 2.0-micron wavelengths.

Presently in the national scenario, FOPD is working on developing indigenous components like active fibers and matched passive fibers, fiber Bragg gratings and combiners for high power fiber lasers as per requirement of CHESS, Hyderabad. FOPD also established fiber Bragg-grating writing set-up for making of FBG Based Reflectors of high-power fiber laser and various kind of Bragg grating sensors under active participation of Aimil Ltd., Tata Steel and SFO Technologies. A high-power lasing characterization set-up of 1.0-micron CW laser upto 0.60-0.70 kW output power also established under DRDO project. FOPD is working also for medical laser at 2.0 micron as per the requirement in Urology, Oncology, Gynaecology, cavitation in Ophthalmic Surgery.

Our technologies are aligned very much to national missions such as Make in India and Innovate in India. In this direction, FOPD is collaborating with several DRDO labs and various photonics industries as well as other government funding agencies to meet the demand of various kind of specialty optical fibres for making of commercial graded photonics components and devices indigenously as per requirement of Defence peoples, Industries and other sectors for the benefit of CSIR/Society/Environment/Nation. It maintains active and effective collaborations with industries and academic institutions in India and abroad. FOPD play an important role on development of various design-based specialty optical fibers as collaborative research work with various Foreign institute/research labs such as Southampton University-UK, JENA-Germany, Clemson University-USA, LPMC-France, MMU-Malaysia, CIO-Mexico, FORC-Russia, NTU-Taiwan, HWU-UK etc.

• Specialty optical fibers
  • Rare earth doped fibers for optical amplifiers
  • Large core rare earth doped fibers for fiber lasers
  • Photosensitive fibers for writing Bragg gratings
  • Highly non-linear PCF for supercontinuum sources
  • Radiation soft fibers for dosimeter applications
  • Radiation resistant fibers for nuclear environments
  • Fibers for sensor applications
  • Bismuth doped optical fiber for broad-band ASE source
  • Nano-engineered glass based optical fiber for use as fiber based saturable absorbers
  • Metal doped optical fibers for visible ASE source
• Fiber based devices and components
  • Fiber laser
  • Fiber amplifier
  • Broad-band supercontinuum source covering visible and NIR region
  • Sensors
  • Fiber Bragg gratings
  • Structural health monitoring
  • Acousto-ultrasonic sensing for damage detection in metal/composite structure
  • Sensors for gas, chemical and biological species

1. Erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) for CATV application jointly with the industrial partner NeST Photonics. The commercial product was launched on 28.08.2005.
2. Gain flattened EDFA (C-band) for WDM application (up to 22 dBm output power)
3. Core technologies / processes for specialty optical fibers such as
   • Intrinsically gain flattened Er doped fiber for optical amplifier
   • Large core Yb₂O₃ doped fibre for fibre lasers
   • Yb₂O₃-doped fiber for fiber lasers based on nano-engineered glass host
   • Tm₂O₃ and Tm₂O₃+Yb₂O₃ doped fiber for fiber lasers
   • Intrinsically photosensitive optical fibre for writing fibre Bragg-grating
   • Rare-earth doped polarizing Photonic Crystal Fibre (PCF) for high power amplifiers and lasers
   • Highly non-linear PCF for supercontinuum sources
   • Special GeO₂ doped SM fibre for use at 630nm and 980nm
4. Technology for developing fiber Bragg grating based components like Gain Flattening Filters (GFF), Linear tilt/edge filter, Filters with ultra narrow linewidth, WDM filters, Bragg gratings and long period gratings for sensor application
5. Developed Bragg grating based temperature sensing system for online temperature monitoring of high voltage power transmission lines.
6. Developed Supercontinuum Light Source Technology covering variety of applications like Optical Coherence Tomography, Broadband Spectroscopy, Flow Cytometry etc. jointly with the industrial partner Vinvish Technologies, Trivandrum.
7. “Broad Spectrum Confocal Microscope” has been conceived and realized under CSIR-NMITLI programme in association with Vinvish Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Developed the process technology for making of nano-phase separated multielement low silica bismuth doped optical fiber (Patent-Application No: 202411003505, Filed on 17.01.2024) serving as Pulse fiber laser and Broad-band ASE source (1100-1600 nm) as well as optical amplifier

Thulium fiber laser for Surgery: (i) Air-cooled diode pumped all fiber CW/QCW thulium laser for operating wavelength of 1.94 µm, Granted Indian Patent no. 521229 (ii) Water-cooled all-fiber continuous wave and modulated thulium fiber laser at operating wavelength around 2 µm, Application No: 202111053720

Developed high power Ytterbium Fiber Laser at 1.08 µm with a continuous-wave (CW) output power of 1 kW (Industrial collaborator: Sahajanand Laser Technology Ltd., Gandhinagar and Omega Innovation, Gujarat). Such laser operating at 1 µm has been developed for material processing applications, including metal cutting, welding, and marking.

Developed 4×1 and 7×1 pump combiners, as well as (6+1) x1 pump/signal combiners, with a cumulative pump power capacity of 700 W and an efficiency of 99%. [Brightness conserved pump-combiner and mode-field matched pump-signal combiner for high power fiber laser and amplifier, Application no.: 202111045353]

Developed Multipoint temperature sensing of the mould for the billet caster in a steel plant using an array of fiber Bragg gratings [Indian Patent no. 202131018522 granted in 2024] under precipitation of Tata Steel, NML and CGCRI

Developed vibration monitoring of stator end winding of a generator in a thermal power plant using multiplexed fiber Bragg grating sensors at multiple locations [Indian Patent no. 202211044095 filed in 2022] under participation of SFO Technologies. This technology is useful for health monitoring of generators in thermal power plants maintained by NTPC and other state owned entities. BHEL who manufacture the generators are also stake holders.

Developed Fiber Bragg grating based strain, displacement, vibration and tilt sensors for structural health monitoring of civil structures like bridges and buildings under active participation of Aimil Ltd. [background Indian Patent no. 202111003501 filed in 2021]. Such developed sensors are useful for health monitoring of many other structures across different industrial sectors

List of on-going and completed projects in the past 5 years:

 List of completed projects:

Fluorescence life time measurement set-up with upgraded version of NIR Detector

 High power laser test bed for lasing characterization of double clad Yb doped fiber

Laboratory set-up of Tilt sensor experiment

Dr. Mukul Chandra Paul,
Chief Scientist & Head, Fibre Optics & Photonics Division