Patent ID: 7349600

Claim:
An optical fiber system, comprising: an optical fiber having a core, an inner cladding surrounding said core and an outer cladding surrounding said inner cladding, wherein said core is made of a first material having a first index of refraction, said inner cladding is made of a second material having a second index of refraction, and said outer cladding is made of a third material having a third index of refraction, said first index of refraction being greater than said second index of refraction, and said second index of refraction being greater than said third index of refraction, said optical fiber propagating a sensing/signal light and a power light separate from said sensing/signal light, said sensing/signal light being propagated in said core and said power light being propagated by at least said inner cladding; an in-fiber optic component provided at least partially in said core at a first location; an optical transducing element located in proximity to said first location; and an optical tap region provided within said optical fiber in proximity to said optical transducing element, said optical tap region comprising a portion of said optical fiber wherein said optical fiber has been modified in a manner that causes a local index of refraction of said inner cladding at said portion to be less than a local index of refraction of said outer cladding at said portion, said optical tap region enabling at least a portion of said power light to be released from said optical fiber and be absorbed by said optical transducing element; wherein said optical transducing element converts the absorbed at least a portion of said power light into a second energy form, and wherein said second energy form is used to tune said in-fiber optic component.