Bend-induced losses in a single-mode microstructured fiber with a large core

Abstract

A study of bend-induced losses in a silica-based single-mode microstructured fiber with a core diameter ranging from 20 to 35 microns and increased relative air content in the holey cladding has been conducted. With the use of the equivalent step-index profile method in approximation of waveguide parameters of microstructured fiber (normalized frequency and normalized transverse attenuation constant) the effect of bending on the spectral position of the fundamentalmode short-wavelength leakage boundary has been analyzed. Upon measurement of spectral characteristics of attenuation in the considered fibers good accordance of numerical and experimental data has been found out. It is shown that increase of the air content in the holey cladding leads to expansion of the mentioned boundary to lower wavelengths for the value from 150 to 800 nm depending on the core size and bending conditions. A single-transverse-mode propagation is achieved on fiber length of 5-10 meters due to a substantial difference in losses of fundamental and higher-order guided modes attained by bending. Optical losses in all studied samples are less than 10 dB/km at the wavelength λ = 1550 nm. The results of the study can be applied in the design of high-power laser systems having such basic requirements as a relatively large mode spot and high beam quality.