Abstract
The scattering from air–glass interfaces within solid-core polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber (PM–PCF) will increase the fiber attenuation coefficient, which may lead to high transmission loss. Therefore, it is necessary to describe scattering properties to guide research into reducing fiber loss. In this paper, the loss resulting from roughness scattering at multi-hole interfaces within PM–PCF was theoretically and experimentally analyzed. A PM–PCF scattering model was established to explore the scattering distribution. On the other hand, a fully automatic testing device was built to enable the measurement of a three-dimensional scattering sphere. Simulations were in good agreement with experimental measurements. Moreover, this new proposed measurement method could apply to other PCFs and it will be a useful tool for further scattering research.
Highlights
Maintaining Photonic Crystal Fibers.Solid-core polarization maintaining photonic crystal fibers (PM–PCFs) have been widely used in optical fiber gyroscopes because of their thermal stability, radiation resistance, design flexibility, and small transverse magnetic field error [1]
High loss leads to the decrease of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), which limits the application of PM–PCF in gyros
Due to equilibrium thermodynamics [5,6,7], the scattering loss caused by the inherent roughness of air–glass interfaces in these holes cannot be completely eliminated by technological improvements, and this was proved to be the ultimate low loss of PM–PCFs [8]
Summary
Solid-core polarization maintaining photonic crystal fibers (PM–PCFs) have been widely used in optical fiber gyroscopes because of their thermal stability, radiation resistance, design flexibility, and small transverse magnetic field error [1]. Compared with traditional fibers, the total transmission loss of PM–PCFs is much higher because of their air–glass structure [2]. PCF [3] is 2 dB/km at 1550 nm, while the loss of typical single-mode fiber is 0.18 dB/km, which is an order of magnitude higher than the latter [4]. High loss leads to the decrease of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), which limits the application of PM–PCF in gyros. A PM–PCF typically consists of an array of parallel air holes in a glass matrix which surrounds a solid core containing two big symmetrical holes. Due to equilibrium thermodynamics [5,6,7], the scattering loss caused by the inherent roughness of air–glass interfaces in these holes cannot be completely eliminated by technological improvements, and this was proved to be the ultimate low loss of PM–PCFs [8]
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