Holey Fibers Suchita Kaundin

Agenda Background What are Holey Fibers Physical Structure Fabrication Properties Advantages Applications Industries References

Background Initially, the photonic bandgap was the only guiding mechanism in the new class of optical fibers By micro structuring and including airholes in the fiber and using total internal reflection property, these devices could provide revolutionary features

What are Holey Fibers Holey Fibers are microstructured optic fibers that possess a solid core surrounded by a cladding region defined by a fine array of air holes that extend along the fiber length Holey fibers guide light due to effective refractive index difference between core and cladding regions and can be made from a single material typically silica

Physical Structure Holey fibers are created by stacking tiny hollow glass tubes around a small solid glass rod forming a cylinder 3cm across and a meter long Each hole can be less than a micron in diameter The positioning and size of the hole affect the way light is being transmitted By introducing holes which are of a similar size to the wavelength of light, light of different wavelengths can be passed.

Fabrication Fabricated by stacking an array of capillaries in a hexagonal configuration around a solid rod which forms the core The resulting preform is reduced to fibre dimensions using a conventional fibre drawing tower A range of fiber profiles can be produced from a single preform by controlling the conditions under which the fiber is drawn For large scale reduction factors for certain applications the microstructured region may be overclad with a solid jacket

Properties Endless single mode guidance Large mode area Non linearity tailoring Dispersion

Advantages Endlessly single mode operation- Short wavelength applications Large mode area up to hundreds of μm2- Makes fabrication process faster Anomalous and zero dispersion below 1.3 μm (at visible)- Makes generation of optical solitons in the near IR and visible regions.

Applications Applications in electronic equipments, multiplexers, computers, video devices, Vehicle control systems where high speed optical data transfer is essential Can enable powerful laser surgery and effective laser machining Optical switches and sensor applications Pollution sensing: Putting the fiber into a liquid or driving gas through it and then seeing how light shone through the fiber is affected could give fast and accurate information about pollutant characteristics

Industries Corning Inc. BlazePhotonics design Crystal Fiber INO Omniguide Communications

References Holey Fibers : Properties,Applications & Future Directions by Optoelectronics Research Centre,University of Southampton

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