Expand this Topic clickable element to expand a topic
Skip to content
Optica Publishing Group
Journal Home About Issues in Progress Current Issue All Issues Feature Issues

Air-hole collapse and mode transitions in microstructured fiber photonic wires

E. C. Mägi, H. C. Nguyen, and B. J. Eggleton

Open Access Open Access

Abstract

We demonstrate robust, low bend loss photonic wires made from air-clad microstructured “grapefruit” fiber. By tapering the fiber and collapsing the air-holes, the guided mode evolves from being fully embedded within the fiber to a spatially-localized evanescent regime a few millimeters in length, where the mode is strongly influenced by the external environment. We show that in the embedded regime there is negligible loss when the taper is immersed in index-matching fluid, while in the evanescent regime the attenuation increases by over 35 dB. Furthermore, we show that an 11 µm wire in the embedded regime can be bent to a radius as small as 95 µm with bend-loss of 0.03 dB in a 500 nm band. The combination of spatial localization, strong dependence on the external environment and small bend radius make the device ideally suited for bio-photonic sensing.

©2005 Optical Society of America

Full Article  |  PDF Article
More Like This
Microstructured optical fiber photonic wires with subwavelength core diameter

Yannick K. Lizé, Eric C. Mägi, Vahid G. Ta’eed, Jeremy A. Bolger, Paul Steinvurzel, and Benjamin J. Eggleton
Opt. Express 12(14) 3209-3217 (2004)

Microstructured optical fiber coated with thin films for gas and chemical sensing

Vladimir P. Minkovich, D. Monzón-Hernández, Joel Villatoro, and Gonçal Badenes
Opt. Express 14(18) 8413-8418 (2006)

Light transmission in multiple or single subwavelength trefoil channels of microstructured fibers

J.M. Moison, A.M. Apetrei, J.A. Levenson, G. Mélin, Ph. Pédeboscq, A. Fleureau, S. Lempereur, and L. Gasca
Opt. Express 13(4) 1193-1201 (2005)

View More...

Cited By

Optica participates in Crossref's Cited-By Linking service. Citing articles from Optica Publishing Group journals and other participating publishers are listed here.

Alert me when this article is cited.


Figures (7)
Fig. 1.
Fig. 1. Schematic of: (a) untapered MOF consisting of six air-holes surrounding a Ge-doped core; (b) the MOF tapered by stretching under a brushing flame, while maintaining the air-holes; (c) the local heat-treatment of the tapered MOF, where it is held stationary under a flame, causing the air-holes to collapse.

Download Full Size | PDF

Fig. 2.
Fig. 2. (a) Simulated evolution of the field intensity as the core mode propagates through a region where the holes collapse and re-appear. The thin lines represent the outline of the taper and collapsing holes. The plot on the right shows the field intensity distribution of the launched mode. (b) Cross-sectional field intensity distribution at various positions along the taper, as the mode propagates through the heat-treated region.

Download Full Size | PDF

Fig. 3.
Fig. 3. Microscope images along an “adiabatic” heat treated Grape fruit fiber taper. (a) Outside of heat treated region (b) transition region where holes are collapsing, and (c) the waist where

Download Full Size | PDF

Fig. 4.
Fig. 4. Transmission spectra of tapered MOF relative to the untapered fiber. Prior to heat-treatment, the bare and index-matched tapers have identical spectra. After heat-treatment, when the holes have collapsed, the transmission in the index-matched case is lower by 40–70 dB.

Download Full Size | PDF

Fig. 5.
Fig. 5. Measurement of power transmitted through the taper, before and after heat-treatment, with an approximately 300 µm droplet of index-matching fluid is applied at different positions along the taper. The schematic shows the fluid being applied using a SMF.

Download Full Size | PDF

Fig. 6.
Fig. 6. Bend loss measurements of untreated MOF taper, in which the taper wound in a loop. Bend loss as a function of bend radius was measured in 500nm power band.

Download Full Size | PDF

Fig. 7.
Fig. 7. Bend loss as a function of wavelength for bend radius of 95 µm. Loss due to bending is just discernable for wavelength greater than 1630 nm.

Download Full Size | PDF

Select as filters
Select Topics Cancel
Top
       
© Copyright 2024 | Optica Publishing Group. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies.
Privacy | Terms of Use