Thermally controlled mid-IR band-gap engineering in all-glass chalcogenide microstructured fibers: a numerical study

Abstract

Presence of photonic band-gap (PBG) in an all-glass low refractive index (RI) contrast chalcogenide (Ch) microstructured optical fibers (MOFs) is investigated numerically. The effect of external temperature on the position of band-gap is explored to realize potential fiber-based wavelength filters/sensors at functional mid-IR spectral range. The cross-sectional geometry of the MOF is formed by considering a Ch glass to form the overall background cross-section as well as the central fiber core. The core region is surrounded by periodically arranged (hexagonal pattern) smaller holes, which are assumed to be filled up with another Ch glass. Thermally compatible and fabrication suitable, two Ch glasses are chosen, one (higher RI) as background material and the other (of lower RI) to fill up the holes. Two sets of such pairs of thermally compatible Ch-glasses are considered as fiber structural materials with relative RI contrast of ∼12% and ∼24%. For both such low RI contrast hexagonal structures, PBG appears only for suitable finite values of longitudinal wave vector. The structures are suitable to realize band-gap at mid-IR wavelengths and specifically optimized for operation around the ∼2 μm region. Then the temperature sensitivity of band-gaps is investigated to design fiber-based mid-IR wavelength filters/sensors.