Abstract

As optical fiber performance has been refined over the past three decades, so the limits of what “conventional” fibers can do have become widely accepted. Over the past few years, researchers at several institutions have looked again at a fabrication technology first investigated in the 1960’s-that of “single-material fibers”-and re-interpreted the possibilities of that technology in the light of present trends in optics. Photonic crystal fibers use a single 2-dimensionally microstructured material to form a fiber waveguide. By considering these materials as photonic crystals, we can develop new ways of thinking about light confinement in optical fibers.

© 2001 Optical Society of America