Open AccessExtremely large-mode-area photonic crystal fibre with low bending loss
Author(s) -
Marek Napierała,
Tomasz Nasiłowski,
Elżbieta Bereś−Pawlik,
Francis Berghmans,
Jan Wójcik,
Hugo Thienpont
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.18.015408
Subject(s) - subwavelength diameter optical fibre , materials science , bend radius , optics , bent molecular geometry , bending , photonic crystal fiber , laser , core (optical fiber) , beam (structure) , wavelength , radius , photonic crystal , mode field diameter , optical fiber , optoelectronics , composite material , plastic optical fiber , physics , multi mode optical fiber , computer security , computer science
We report on the design of a novel flexible very large mode area photonic crystal fibre for short pulse high peak power fibre laser and beam delivery applications. This fibre has an extremely large mode area exceeding 2500 microm(2) when kept straight and over 1000 microm(2) when bent over a 10 cm radius at a wavelength of 1064 nm. In addition our fibre exhibits very small fundamental mode bending loss below 10(-2) dB/m. The large difference between the propagation loss levels of fundamental and higher order modes forces efficient single-mode guidance in the fibre core while bent. This allows using the fibre to build compact high power laser systems. The paper further explores the major features of this fibre including: the dependence of the mode field area on the fibre core shape, the influence of the bending radius and of the bending direction as well as the impact of manufacturing tolerances on the fibre specifications.