Highly birefringent index-guiding photonic crystal fiber with squeezed differently sized air-holes in cladding

We propose a novel high-birefringence index-guiding photonic crystal fiber (PCF). This PCF is composed of a solid silica core and a cladding with two differently sized squeezed elliptical air-holes. The mode birefringence of a fundamental mode in such PCFs is analyzed numerically by the finite-element method. Numerical results reveal that an extraordinarily high modal birefringence at the excitation wavelength of ? = 1550nm, 2.6 × 10-2, is acquired. The contributions of the cladding with two different sizes of air-hole ellipticity, the center-to-center distance between the air-holes, and the the number of cladding rings as well as the confinement loss to the birefringence are systematically evaluated. The evolution of birefringence with the structural variations shows that our highly birefrineent fiber can be designed in a controlled manner. ©2008 The Japan Society of Applied Physics.