Fabrication of polymer photonic crystal fiber and its optical properties

A photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is an optical fiber that has a lot of holes regularly arranged in the direction of the fiber axis. PCFs are composed of only one kind of material, and allow for optical propagation by the internal reflection caused by the difference of effective refractive index between the core and cladding (including holes). In PCFs, single-mode propagation is possible maintaining a large core diameter because of this peculiar structure. On the other hand, because the polymer material is flexible, and easy-processable, it is a suitable material for fabricating PCFs. In this study, polymer photonic crystal fibers (PPCFs) composed of perfluorinated polymer material are fabricated, and single-mode condition in the PF-PPCF is estimated with outoput intensity of near-field pattern and far-field pattern, and V _eff. In addition, by focusing on the low bending loss property of PCF, a hole assisted GI POF is newly prepared. Hole assisted GI POFs are obtained by substituting the core of a PCF for a GI POF. This hole assisted GI POF is expected to have both high bandwidth of GI POP and excellent low bending loss property.