High birefringence and low loss circular air-holes photonic crystal fiber using complex unit cells in cladding

We propose a high birefringence and low loss index-guiding photonic crystal fiber (PCF) using the complex unit cells in cladding by the finite-element method. Results show that the birefringence and confinement loss in such PCF fiber is determined not only by the whole cladding asymmetry but also the shape of the PCF core. The maximal modal birefringence and lowest confinement loss of our proposed structures at the excitation wavelength of ? = 1550 nm can be achieved at 8.7 × 10-3 and 5.27 × 10-5 dB/km, respectively. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.