Photonic structures: lateral thinking with photonic crystal fibers

The fabrication and applications of photonic crystal fibers (PCF) are discussed. The fabrication of transverse PCFs has advantage over the existing photonic crystals (PC) which include, smooth walls which suppress scattering, tunability, and a potentially arbitrary microstructure which adds flexibility to device concepts. The geometry and microstructure of PCF were analyzed using scanning electron micrograph. The finite-difference time-domain simulation was used to study the propagation of light across the PCF. Microphotonics components are created using transverse optical fiber sections which have planar functionality.