Hollow core photonic bandgap fibers guide light in a hollow core surrounded by a microstructured cladding formed by a periodic arrangement of air holes in silica.
Since only a small fraction of light propagates in glass, the effect of material nonlinearities is significantly reduced and the fibers do not suffer from the same loss limitations as fibers made from all solid material.
Applications include power delivery, pulse shaping and compression, sensors and nonlinear optics.
・>95% of optical power located in air
・Quasi-Gaussian fundamental mode
・Can be filled with gas
・Low bend loss down to few mm bend radius
・Fresnel reflection to air at the end faces <10e-4
・Up to 80% of fiber cross section composed of solid silica, facilitating fusion splicing to conventional fibers
・Undoped silica for good temperature stability