Design and Characterization of Low-Loss Porous-Core Photonic Crystal Fiber

A rigorous modal solution approach, based on the numerically efficient finite-element method (FEM), has been used to design and characterize a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with a porous air core, which has the potential for use for low-loss guidance of terahertz (THz) waves. Here, for the first time, it is reported that a large fraction of the power that is also well confined in the waveguide can be guided in the low-loss air holes, thus to reduce the overall modal loss. This novel PCF design can readily be fabricated by use of a range of techniques including stack-and-draw, extrusion, and drilling.