Multipole analysis of photonic crystal fibers with coated inclusions

A Broadband Gold-Coated Photonic Crystal Fiber Polarization Filter with a High Loss Ratio of Both Polarizations at 1550 and 1310 nm

A new kind of gold-coated hexagonal photonic crystal fiber polarization filter is designed in this paper. The filtering properties can be adjusted through varying the structural parameters. With the 25.60 nm gold film thickness, the losses of the respective modes of Y and X-polarized core mode at 1550 nm are 1024.84 and 0.12 dB/cm with the loss ratio of 8540.33 between two polarizations. However, the losses of Y and X-polarized core mode at 1310 nm are 682.14 and 0.03 dB/cm, and the loss ratio is 22,738 with the gold film thickness of 55.30 nm. That indicates that the proposed filter has a higher loss ratio. Moreover, the crosstalk value with the fiber length of 200 μm at 1550 and 1310 nm are 178.01 and 118.49 dB, respectively. The bandwidths with crosstalk value greater than 20 dB are 640 and 180 nm. The designed polarization filter represents good filtering characteristics and allows great fabrication tolerances. Therefore, the designed hexagonal filter can be well applied in the domain of optical fiber communication.

Photonic Crystal Fiber SPR Liquid Sensor Based on Elliptical Detective Channel

This paper proposes a Photonic Crystal Fiber (PCF) refractive index sensor model based on the surface plasmon resonance effect. The proposed PCF model also uses the full vector finite element method to transfer the structure under the anisotropic Perfect Matching Layer (PML) boundary condition. Numerical calculations were carried out on the sensor characteristics. The calculation results show that the elliptical air hole on the left side of the PCF core is coated with a gold-nano film which serves as a Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) sensing channel to detect the refractive index of liquid materials. Compared with other structures, the resonant peak generated by the excited SPR effect from the elliptical sensing channel has a high sensitivity to the change of the refractive index of the liquid to be measured. With the help of this attribute, it is relatively easy to adjust the sensitivity. The refractive index range of this structure is within 1.43–1.49 and the sensitivity is up to 12,719.97 nm·RIU⁻¹. The linearity is good; R² = 0.99927, which is very suitable for liquid sensing.

A Novel Ultra-Broadband Polarization Filter Based on a Microstructured Optical Fiber with a Gold-Coated Air Hole

In this paper, a pentagonal microstructured optical fiber polarization filter by utilizing a surface plasmon resonance effect is proposed. The characteristics of the mode-coupling and filtering of the filter are studied by making use of the full-vector finite element method. The performance of the filter is greatly affected by the structure parameters. The losses of Y and X polarization of the fiber core are 665.97 and 0.17 dB/cm at 1.55 μm, respectively, and the loss ratio is 3917.47. This shows that the filter has a greater loss ratio. Moreover, both the extinction ratio and tolerance are also researched, which shows that the proposed filter has a wider filtering bandwidth and better fabrication tolerance. The designed filter has an important role in wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) and coherent optical fiber communication systems.

Broadband single-polarization filter of D-shaped photonic crystal fiber with a micro-opening based on surface plasmon resonance

In this paper, a D-shaped photonic crystal fiber is designed to achieve a single-polarization filter that has a broadband filtering property. The D-shaped structure is a triangular array of air holes, forming a micro-opening on the side-polished surface and plating a gold layer thereon. The investigation of the polarization filter is based on the finite element method; its principle is surface plasmon resonance. The single-polarization filter in the y direction is realized by adjusting parameters such as the apertures of the fiber, the thickness of the gold layer, and the polishing depth. The confinement loss of the core mode in y polarization reaches to a high value of 376.31 dB/cm at 1.55 μm, and that of the x polarization is 0.17 dB/cm; the former is 2225.35 times the latter. When the fiber length L is 1 mm, the crosstalk reaches a peak value of 326.7 dB at 1.55 μm, and the bandwidth of crosstalk higher than 20 dB is 480 nm. In addition, the external gold coating operation is more conducive to application in the manufacturing process. This filter will be an effective application of the optical communication window near 1.55 μm.

Development of an opto-electronic fiber device with multiple nano-probes

We present the fabrication and characterization of an opto-electronic fiber device which can allow for both electromechanical functionality and optical waveguiding capability. The air holes of a photonic crystal fiber are selectively sealed and then pumped with molten metal under pressure. The metal filled holes act as electrodes to which individual carbon nanotubes (CNT) are attached precisely by a laser-welding technique or a focused ion beam assisted pick-and-bond technique. The optical modal profile and the group velocity dispersion of the fabricated device are studied both numerically and experimentally. We also present preliminary experimental proof showing the feasibility of electric actuation of a pair of nanotubes by applying up to 40 V potential difference between the filled electrodes. Furthermore, numerical simulations are carried out which agree with the experimentally observed displacement of the CNT upon electric actuation. The unique aspect of our device is that it provides optical waveguiding and electromechanical nano-probing capability in a single package. Such combined functionality can potentially enable simultaneous electrical and optical manipulation and interrogation at the nanoscale.

Hybrid polymer photonic crystal fiber with integrated chalcogenide glass nanofilms

The combination of chalcogenide glasses with polymer photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) is a difficult and challenging task due to their different thermo-mechanical material properties. Here we report the first experimental realization of a hybrid polymer-chalcogenide PCF with integrated As₂S₃ glass nanofilms at the inner surface of the air-channels of a poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA) PCF. The integrated high refractive index glass films introduce distinct antiresonant transmission bands in the 480–900 nm wavelength region. We demonstrate that the ultra-high Kerr nonlinearity of the chalcogenide glass makes the polymer PCF nonlinear and provides a possibility to shift the transmission band edges as much as 17 nm by changing the intensity. The proposed fabrication technique constitutes a new highway towards all-fiber nonlinear tunable devices based on polymer PCFs, which at the moment is not possible with any other fabrication method.

Numerical Investigation of the Microstructured Optical Fiber-Based Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor with Silver Nanolayer

The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor is proposed based on coating the inner surfaces of an index-guiding microstructured optical fiber (MOF) with a silver layer. Fiber core is surrounded by six large metallized holes which should facilitate the fabrication of the layered sensor structure and the infiltration of the analyte. The relationship between the sensitivity of SPR sensor and the refractive index of MOF material is demonstrated with finite element method (FEM). Numerical simulation results indicate that the sensitivity of SPR sensor decreases as the refractive index of the MOF material increasing and both spectral and intensity sensitivity are estimated to be 6.25×10-5and 6.67×10-5with low refractive index of MOF materialn=1.46.

Extra loss due to Fano resonances in inhibited coupling fibers based on a lattice of tubes

Confinement loss of inhibited coupling fibers with a cladding composed of a lattice of tubes of various shapes is theoretically and numerically investigated. Both solid core and hollow core are taken into account. It is shown that in case of polygonal shaped tubes, confinement loss is affected by extra loss due to Fano resonances between core modes and cladding modes with high spatial dependence. This explains why hollow core Kagome fibers exhibit much higher confinement loss with respect to tube lattice fibers and why hypocycloid core cladding interfaces significantly reduce fiber loss. Moreover it is shown that tube deformations, due for example to fabrication process, affect fiber performances. A relationship between the number of polygon sides and the spectral position of the extra loss is found. This suggests general guide lines for the design and fabrication of fibers free of Fano resonance in the spectral range of interest.

Solid-core fiber with ultra-wide bandwidth transmission window due to inhibited coupling

We experimentally demonstrate solid-core photonic crystal fibers that guide via the inhibited coupling mechanism. We measure an overall transmission window of more than an octave, as well as an uninterrupted width of almost one octave. The fiber is fabricated in polymer, with high-index ring-shaped inclusions. This type of fiber was conceived based on a simple model which shows that the cutoffs of the modes of a thin ring cluster around the cutoffs of planar waveguide modes. The model shows that such ring based fibers are closely related to kagome and square lattice hollow core fibers, and have transmission bandwidths that could in principle reach 1.6 octaves. Measured transmission properties are in good agreement with rigorous modelling.

Nanoparticle layer deposition for plasmonic tuning of microstructured optical fibers

Plasmonic nanoparticles with spectral properties in the UV-to-near-IR range have a large potential for the development of innovative optical devices. Similarly, microstructured optical fibers (MOFs) represent a promising platform technology for fully integrated, next-generation plasmonic devices; therefore, the combination of MOFs and plasmonic nanoparticles would open the way for novel applications, especially in sensing applications. In this Full Paper, a cost-effective, innovative nanoparticle layer deposition (NLD) technique is demonstrated for the preparation of well-defined plasmonic layers of selected particles inside the channels of MOFs. This dynamic chemical deposition method utilizes a combination of microfluidics and self-assembled monolayer (SAM) techniques, leading to a longitudinal homogeneous particle density as long as several meters. By using particles with predefined plasmonic properties, such as the resonance wavelength, fibers with particle-adequate spectral characteristics can be prepared. The application of such fibers for refractive-index sensing yields a sensitivity of about 78 nm per refractive index unit (RIU). These novel, plasmonically tuned optical fibers with freely selected, application-tailored optical properties present extensive possibilities for applications in localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) sensing.

Coated photonic bandgap fibres for low-index sensing applications: cutoff analysis

We investigate theoretically the performance of photonic crystal fibres with coated holes as refractive index sensors. We show that coating the holes with a high-index material allows to extend the extreme sensitivities analyte-waveguide based geometries offer to the case of low-index analytes, including water-based solutions. As the sensitivity of these sensors is intricately linked to the sensitivity of the cutoff of a single inclusion to the analyte refractive index, our approach relies on the derivation of cutoff equations for coated inclusions. This is performed analytically without approximations, in the fully vectorial case, for modes of all orders. Our analytic approach allows us to rapidly cover the parameter space, and to quickly identify promising geometries. The best results are obtained when considering fluorinated polymer fibres, for which the index of the background material is not too different to that of water, and with thin high-index coatings. Using these results, we propose a sensor based on a directional coupler geometry that would lead to a sensitivity of 2.2 x 10(4) nm/RIU for water based solutions with achievable smallest detectable refractive index changes below 10(-6).

Surface plasmon resonance-like integrated sensor at terahertz frequencies for gaseous analytes

Plasmon-like excitation at the interface between fully polymeric fiber sensor and gaseous analyte is demonstrated theoretically in terahertz regime. Such plasmonic excitation occurs on top of a approximately 30 microm ferroelectric PVDF layer wrapped around a subwavelength porous polymer fiber. In a view of designing a fiber-based sensor of analyte refractive index, phase matching of a plasmon-like mode with the fundamental core guided mode of a low loss porous fiber is then demonstrated for the challenging case of a gaseous analyte. We then demonstrate the possibility of designing high sensitivity sensors with amplitude resolution of 3.4 x 10(-4) RIU, and spectral resolution of 1.3 x 10(-4) RIU in THz regime. Finally, novel sensing methodology based on detection of changes in the core mode dispersion is proposed.

Experimental reconstruction of bands in solid core photonic bandgap fibres using acoustic gratings

We present the first characterisation of cladding modes of a low-index contrast all-solid photonic bandgap fiber using an acousto-optic long-period grating. We experimentally measure the relative band diagrams of the cladding, visualise the fields of the cladding modes in the near field, and find both to be in good agreement with simulations. Our measurements and simulations show that the bands of the cladding are very sensitive to actual details of the structure.

Surface-plasmon-resonance sensor based on three-hole microstructured optical fiber

We propose a novel surface-plasmon-resonance sensor design based on coating the holes of a three-hole microstructured optical fiber with a low-index dielectric layer on top of which a gold layer is deposited. The use of all three fiber holes and their relatively large size should facilitate the fabrication of the inclusions and the infiltration of the analyte. Our numerical results indicate that the optical loss of the Gaussian guided mode can be made very small by tuning the thickness of the dielectric layer and that the refractive-index resolution for aqueous analytes is 1x 10(-4).

Coexistence of total internal reflexion and bandgap modes in solid core photonic bandgap fibre with intersticial air holes

In this article, we deal with new properties of a Solid Core Photonic Bandgap (SC-PBGF) fiber with intersticial air holes (IAHs) in its transverse structure. It has been shown recently, that IAH enlarges its bandgaps (BG), compared to what is observed in a regular SC-PBGF. We shall describe the mechanisms that account for this BG opening, which has not been explained in detail yet. It is then interesting to discuss the role of air holes in the modification of the Bloch modes, at the boundaries of the BG. In particular, we will use a simple method to compute the exact BG diagrams in a faster way, than what is done usually, drawing some parallels between structured fibers and physics of photonic crystals. The very peculiar influence of IAHs on the upper/lower boundaries of the bandgaps will be explained thanks to the difference between mode profiles excited on both boundaries, and linked to the symmetry / asymmetry of the modes. We will observe a modification of the highest index band (n(FSM)) due to IAHs, that will enable us to propose a fiber design to guide by Total Internal Reflection (TIR) effect, as well as by a more common BG confinement. The transmission zone is deeply enlarged, compared to regular photonic bandgap fibers, and consists in the juxtaposition of (almost non overlapping) BG guiding zones and TIR zone.

Numerical study of guided modes in arrays of metallic nanowires

We numerically investigate the band structure and guided modes within arrays of metallic nanowires. We show that bandgaps appear for a range of array geometries and that these can be used to guide light in these structures. Values of attenuation as low as 1.7 dB/cm are predicted for arrays of silver wires at communications wavelengths. This is more than 100 times smaller than the attenuation of the surface plasmon polariton modes on a single silver nanowire.