PyFibers: A Semi-automatic Tool for Contour Extraction from Cross Section Images of Photonic Crystal Fibers

A photonic crystal fiber is a new type of optical fiber that presents an array of air holes running along its whole length and whose properties can be predicted upon precise knowledge of its cross section. Up to now, the cross section of these fibers has been estimated through manual segmentation of the contours in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. In this work, an image processing tool, called PyFibers, was developed, based on mathematical morphology (MM) operations. The tool extracts the contours from the images with minimal user intervention, and outputs a text file containing the contours coordinates and a DXF file with the contours. Either of these files can, subsequently, be used as input to softwares that evaluate the optical properties of the fibers.