Integrated polarizers based on tapered highly birefringent photonic crystal fibers

• Published in: Optics express Vol. 22; no. 15; pp. 17769 - 17775
• Main Authors: Romagnoli, Priscila, Biazoli, Claudecir R, Franco, Marcos A R, Cordeiro, Cristiano M B, de Matos, Christiano J S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 28.07.2014
• ISSN: 1094-4087; 1094-4087
• DOI: 10.1364/OE.22.017769

This paper proposes and demonstrates the creation of sections with a high polarization dependent loss (PDL) in a commercial highly birefringent (polarization maintaining) photonic crystal fiber (PCF), via tapering with pressure applied to the holes. The tapers had a 1-cm-long uniform section with a 66% scale reduction, in which the original microstructure aspect ratio was kept by the pressure application. The resulting waveguides show polarizing action across the entire tested wavelength range, 1510-1600 nm, with a peak PDL of 35.3 dB/cm (c.f. ~1 dB/cm for a typical commercial polarizing fiber). The resulting structure, as well as its production, is extremely simple, and enable a small section with a high PDL to be obtained in a polarization maintaining PCF, meaning that the polarization axes in the polarizing and polarization maintaining sections are automatically aligned.