Photonic quasi-crystal fiber with high birefringence

A high-birefringence photonic quasi-crystal fiber (HB-PQF) based on SiO2 is proposed. The relationships between birefringence and structure parameters and between beat length and structure parameters are researched by finite difference beam propagation method. With the optimization of fiber structure parameters, the birefringence is 1.4207 x 10(-2), which is two orders of magnitude higher than the normally used fiber when the wavelength is 1.55 mu m. The radius of the fiber is 6.5 mu m. The HB-PQF in a communication sensor will have important application prospects. (C) 2016 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)