Patent ID: 7463800

Claim:
A method of fabricating a chiral fiber grating, having a central longitudinal axis, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a first optical fiber having a first lengthwise uniform region, and a first lengthwise generally tapered region, and providing a second optical fiber having a second lengthwise uniform region, and a second lengthwise generally tapered region; (b) attaching said first and second tapered regions to one another, to form a fiber preform structure having a first and a second end, and a central region, such that said first uniform region is positioned at said first end, said second uniform region is positioned at said second end, and at least a portion of said first and second tapered regions overlap with one another in said central region to form an overlap region; and (c) producing the chiral fiber grating by applying a predetermined fabrication protocol to said fiber preform structure, to produce a plurality of regions of different grating strength along the chiral fiber grating, each corresponding to each of: said first and second uniform regions, said overlap region, and portions of said first and second tapered regions outside said overlap region of said fiber preform structure.