Guided Modes: Step-index and

Graded Index Fibers

Number of Modes:
2

Step index fiber: V /2

Graded index fiber (parabolic ref.index profile)
2

: V /4

Photonic Crystal Fibers

New optical fiber structure (1990s)
Initially called Holey fibers, later termed Photonic
crystal fibers, or microstructured fibers.
Basic difference between PCF and a conventional fiber
cladding region (and sometimes the core regions) of a
PCF contain air holes, which run along the entire length
of the fiber.
Differences in the light guiding properties:
Conventional fiber: material properties of the core and cladding
PCF fiber: the structural arrangement creates an internal
microstructure, which enables another dimension for light control

PCF fibers..
Light guiding characteristics: determined by the size
and spacing (pitch) of the holes in the microstructure
and the refractive index
PCF categories:
Index guiding fibers
Photonic bandgap fibers

Index guiding PCF: has a high index core surrounded

by a lower-index cladding; light transmission
mechanism similar to that in a conventional fiber.
Effective refractive index depends on the wavelength,
and the size and pitch of the holes

Index Guiding PCF

Fiber has a solid core
surrounded by a cladding
region containing air holes
running along the length of
the fiber
Core and cladding made of
the same material (say, pure
silica)
The air holes lower the
effective refractive index of
the cladding region (n=1 for
air, 1.45 for silica)
The above microstructural
arrangement creates a stepindex optical fiber

Source: Gerd Keiser, Optical

th
Fiber Communications, 4 ed.,
Tata McGraw-Hill, 2008:
Chapter 2.

Photonic Bandgap (PBG) Fiber

Source: Gerd Keiser, Optical

Fiber Communications, 4
Tata McGraw-Hill, 2008:
Chapter 2.

th

ed.,

Fiber has a hollow core

surrounded by a cladding
region which contains air
holes running along the
length of the fiber
Functional principle of PBG
fiber analogous to the role of
the periodic crystalline
lattice in a semiconductor
(blocks electrons from
occupying a bandgap
region)
Hollow core acts as a
defect in the photonic
bandgap structure creates
a region for the light to
propagate

Index Guiding PCF.

Advantages
Very low losses
High resistance to darkening effects from
nuclear radiation
- Can support single mode operation over
wavelengths in the range 300 nm to 2000 nm.
Mode field area of the PCF is much higher than
that of a conventional fiber
Can transmit high optical power levels
without encountering nonlinear effects

PBG Fiber .
Features (Source: John Senior, Optical Fiber Communications, 3rd
edition, Pearson Education, 2010, chapter 2.)
Periodic arrangement of cladding air holes provides for the
formation of a photonic bandgap in the transverse plane of the
fiber
Wavelengths within the bandgap cannot propagate
perpendicular to the fiber axis (i.e. in the cladding)
Light can be confined to propagate within a region where the ref
index is lower than the surrounding material
PBG fibers guide only in certain wavelength bands
Possible to have wavelengths at which higher order modes are
guided while the fundamental mode is not
Propagation losses are not as low as other fibers
Tend to be highly dispersive with narrow transmission windows