Low-loss single-mode guidance in large-core antiresonant hollow-core fibers

Delivery of nanosecond laser pulses by multi-mode anti-resonant hollow core fiber at 1 µm wavelength

In this paper we explore the application of low-loss multimode anti-resonant hollow-core fiber (MM-AR-HCF) in the delivery of nanosecond laser pulses at 1 µm wavelength. MM-AR-HCF with large core offers a rich content of low-loss higher-order modes which plays a key role in the efficient coupling and transmission of high-power laser of low beam quality. In the experiment, laser pulses of an average pulse energy of 21.8 mJ with 14.6 ns pulse width (corresponding a peak power of 1.49 MW) are transmitted through MM-AR-HCF of 9.8 m length without damage. 85% transmission efficiency is achieved where the incident laser beam suffers a low beam quality with M2 x and M2 y of 2.18 and 1.99 respectively. Laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of MM-AR-HCF was measured to be 22.6 mJ for 85% transmission efficiency, which is 7 times higher than that for a multimode silica optical fiber with a large core of 200 µm.

Microstructured Optical Fiber-Enhanced Light-Matter Interaction Enables Highly Sensitive Exosome-Based Liquid Biopsy of Breast Cancer

Exosome-based liquid biopsies highlight potential utility in diagnosis and determining the prognosis of patients with cancer and other diseases. However, the existing techniques are severely limited for practical applications due to the complications of high cost, low sensitivity, tedious procedures, and large sample consumption. Herein, we report a microstructured optical fiber sensor for fast, sensitive, and accurate quantification of exosomes in blood samples of breast cancer patients. Numerical simulations are applied to demonstrate that hollow-core microstructured antiresonant fibers (HARFs) can stringently confine light in the fiber core, ensuring strong light-matter interaction and thus maximumly amplifying the signal. Taking this advantage, a AuNPs-dsDNA assembly containing gold nanoparticles, a recognizing DNA aptamer, and a fluorescent reporter DNA sequence is fabricated followed by immobilization on the fiber wall to form a AuNPs-dsDNA-HARF sensor. Cancer-derived exosomes can be recognized and captured in the fiber channel and generate dose-dependent fluorescent signals for quantification. The microfiber sensor demonstrates enhanced sensitivity and specificity, enabling the detection of single digits of exosome particles at the nanoliter sample level. In addition, by tracking exosome phenotypic changes, the proposed fiber sensor can facilitate precise drug treatment monitoring. This work provides a robust platform for exosome-based biopsy for cancer diagnosis and prediction of therapeutic outcomes.

Menezes L, Schmidt MA, Maier SA. 3D-Nanoprinted Antiresonant Hollow-Core Microgap Waveguide: An on-Chip Platform for Integrated Photonic Devices and Sensors

Due to their unique capabilities, hollow-core waveguides are playing an increasingly important role, especially in meeting the growing demand for integrated and low-cost photonic devices and sensors. Here, we present the antiresonant hollow-core microgap waveguide as a platform for the on-chip investigation of light-gas interaction over centimeter-long distances. The design consists of hollow-core segments separated by gaps that allow external access to the core region, while samples with lengths up to 5 cm were realized on silicon chips through 3D-nanoprinting using two-photon absorption based direct laser writing. The agreement of mathematical models, numerical simulations and experiments illustrates the importance of the antiresonance effect in that context. Our study shows the modal loss, the effect of gap size and the spectral tuning potential, with highlights including extremely broadband transmission windows (>200 nm), very high contrast resonance (>60 dB), exceptionally high structural openness factor (18%) and spectral control by nanoprinting (control over dimensions with step sizes (i.e., increments) of 60 nm). The application potential was demonstrated in the context of laser scanning absorption spectroscopy of ammonia, showing diffusion speeds comparable to bulk diffusion and a low detection limit. Due to these unique properties, application of this platform can be anticipated in a variety of spectroscopy-related fields, including bioanalytics, environmental sciences, and life sciences.

Nanoparticle Tracking in Single-Antiresonant-Element Fiber for High-Precision Size Distribution Analysis of Mono- and Polydisperse Samples

Accurate determination of the size distribution of nanoparticle ensembles remains a challenge in nanotechnology-related applications due to the limitations of established methods. Here, a microstructured fiber-assisted nanoparticle tracking analysis (FaNTA) realization is introduced that breaks existing limitations through the recording of exceptionally long trajectories of rapidly diffusing polydisperse nanoparticles, resulting in excellent sizing precision and unprecedented separation capabilities of bimodal nanoparticle mixtures. An effective-single-mode antiresonant-element fiber allows to efficiently confine nanoparticles in a light-guiding microchannel and individually track them over more than 1000 frames, while aberration-free imaging is experimentally confirmed by cross-correlation analysis. Unique features of the approach are (i) the highly precise determination of the size distribution of monodisperse nanoparticle ensembles (only 7% coefficient of variation) and (ii) the accurate characterization of individual components in a bimodal mixture with very close mean diameters, both experimentally demonstrated for polymer nanospheres. The outstanding performance of the FaNTA realization can be quantified by introducing a new model for the bimodal separation index. Since FaNTA is applicable to all types of nano-objects down to sub-20 nm diameters, the method will improve the precision standard of mono- and polydisperse nanoparticle samples such as nano-plastics or extracellular vesicles.

Scattering-based Light Microscopy: From Metal Nanoparticles to Single Proteins

Our ability to detect, image, and quantify nanoscopic objects and molecules with visible light has undergone dramatic improvements over the past few decades. While fluorescence has historically been the go-to contrast mechanism for ultrasensitive light microscopy due to its superior background suppression and specificity, recent developments based on light scattering have reached single-molecule sensitivity. They also have the advantages of universal applicability and the ability to obtain information about the species of interest beyond its presence and location. Many of the recent advances are driven by novel approaches to illumination, detection, and background suppression, all aimed at isolating and maximizing the signal of interest. Here, we review these developments grouped according to the basic principles used, namely darkfield imaging, interferometric detection, and surface plasmon resonance microscopy.

Enhancement of UV-visible transmission characteristics in wet-etched hollow core anti-resonant fibers

We report on the feasibility of short-wavelength transmission window modification in anti-resonant hollow core fibers using post-processing by hydrofluoric (HF) acid etching. Direct drawing of stacked anti-resonant hollow core fibers with sub-micron thin cladding capillary membranes is technologically challenging, but so far this has been the only proven method of assuring over an octave-spanning transmission windows across the visible and UV wavelengths. In this study we revealed that low HF concentration allows us to reduce the thickness of the cladding capillary membranes from the initial 760 nm down to 180 nm in a controlled process. The glass etching rates have been established for different HF concentrations within a range non-destructive to the anti-resonant cladding structure. Etching resulted in spectral blue-shifting and broadening of anti-resonant transmission windows in all tested fiber samples with lengths between 15 cm and 75 cm. Spectrally continuous transmission, extending from around 200 nm to 650 nm was recorded in 75 cm long fibers with cladding membranes etched down to thickness of 180 nm. The experiment allowed us to verify the applicability and feasibility of controlling a silica fiber post-processing technique, aimed at broadening of anti-resonant transmission windows in hollow core fibers. A practical application of the processed fiber samples is demonstrated with their simple butt-coupling to light-emitting diodes centered at various ultraviolet wavelengths between 265 nm and 365 nm.

Epsilon negative-based, broadband single-polarization single-mode hollow core anti-resonant photonic crystal fiber

A broadband single-polarization single-mode (SPSM) hollow core anti-resonant photonic crystal fiber (HC-ARPCF) is proposed and analyzed by the finite element method in this paper. The HC-ARPCF design consisted of outer semicircular cladding tubes and inner circular cladding tubes. The SPSM behavior is achieved through controlling the effective material absorption loss (EML) by loading epsilon negative (ENG) material in the selected semicircular cladding tubes. Optimization of the configuration parameters is conducted to yield a large loss difference (LD) between one of the two orthogonally polarized fundamental modes and all the other unwanted modes. Therefore, only one desired mode will exist after a proper propagation distance, i.e., SPSM guidance. Specially, the optimal design provides a 288 nm (from 1408 nm to 1676 nm and from 1680 nm to 1700 nm) bandwidth in terms of 40 dB/m minimum LD (MLD) and 168 nm (from 1452 nm to 1620 nm) bandwidth in terms of 100 dB/m MLD. Furthermore, this fiber also exhibits a large effective mode area and near-zero dispersion properties over the entire operation bandwidth. The proposed HC-ARPCF may find its applications in polarization maintaining and high-power laser systems.

The Optofluidic Light Cage - On-Chip Integrated Spectroscopy Using an Antiresonance Hollow Core Waveguide

Emerging applications in spectroscopy-related bioanalytics demand for integrated devices with small geometric footprints and fast response times. While hollow core waveguides principally provide such conditions, currently used approaches include limitations such as long diffusion times, limited light-matter interaction, substantial implementation efforts, and difficult waveguide interfacing. Here, we introduce the concept of the optofluidic light cage that allows for fast and reliable integrated spectroscopy using a novel on-chip hollow core waveguide platform. The structure, implemented by 3D nanoprinting, consists of millimeter-long high-aspect-ratio strands surrounding a hollow core and includes the unique feature of open space between the strands, allowing analytes to sidewise enter the core region. Reliable, robust, and long-term stable light transmission via antiresonance guidance was observed while the light cages were immersed in an aqueous environment. The performance of the light cage related to absorption spectroscopy, refractive index sensitivity, and dye diffusion was experimentally determined, matching simulations and thus demonstrating the relevance of this approach with respect to chemistry and bioanalytics. The presented work features the optofluidic light cage as a novel on-chip sensing platform with unique properties, opening new avenues for highly integrated sensing devices with real-time responses. Application of this concept is not only limited to absorption spectroscopy but also includes Raman, photoluminescence, or fluorescence spectroscopy. Furthermore, more sophisticated applications are also conceivable in, e.g., nanoparticle tracking analysis or ultrafast nonlinear frequency conversion.

Ultra-simplified Single-Step Fabrication of Microstructured Optical Fiber

Manufacturing optical fibers with a microstructured cross-section relies on the production of a fiber preform in a multiple-stage procedure, and drawing of the preform to fiber. These processes encompass the use of several dedicated and sophisticated equipment, including a fiber drawing tower. Here we demonstrate the use of a commercial table-top low-cost filament extruder to produce optical fibers with complex microstructure in a single step - from the pellets of the optical material directly to the final fiber. The process does not include the use of an optical fiber drawing tower and is time, electrical power, and floor space efficient. Different fiber geometries (hexagonal-lattice solid core, suspended core and hollow core) were successfully fabricated and their geometries evaluated. Air guidance in a wavelength range where the fiber material is opaque was shown in the hollow core fiber.

Tracking and Analyzing the Brownian Motion of Nano-objects Inside Hollow Core Fibers

Tracking and analyzing the individual diffusion of nanoscale objects such as proteins and viruses is an important methodology in life science. Here, we show a sensor that combines the efficiency of light line illumination with the advantages of fluidic confinement. Tracking of freely diffusing nano-objects inside water-filled hollow core fibers with core diameters of tens of micrometers using elastically scattered light from the core mode allows retrieving information about the Brownian motion and the size of each particle of the investigated ensemble individually using standard tracking algorithms and the mean squared displacement analysis. Specifically, we successfully measure the diameter of every gold nanosphere in an ensemble that consists of several hundreds of 40 nm particles, with an individual precision below 17% (±8 nm). In addition, we confirm the relevance of our approach with respect to bioanalytics by analyzing 70 nm λ-phages. Overall these features, together with the strongly reduced demand for memory space, principally allows us to record thousands of frames and to achieve high frame rates for high precision tracking of nanoscale objects.

Three dimensional spatiotemporal nano-scale position retrieval of the confined diffusion of nano-objects inside optofluidic microstructured fibers

Understanding the dynamics of single nano-scale species at high spatiotemporal resolution is of utmost importance within fields such as bioanalytics or microrheology. Here we introduce the concept of axial position retrieval via scattered light at evanescent fields inside a corralled geometry using optofluidic microstructured optical fibers allowing to unlock information about diffusing nano-scale objects in all three spatial dimensions at kHz acquisition rate for several seconds. Our method yields the lateral positions by localizing the particle in a wide-field microscopy image. In addition, the axial position is retrieved via the scattered light intensity of the particle, as a result of the homogenized evanescent fields inside a microchannel running parallel to an optical core. This method yields spatial localization accuracies <3 nm along the transverse and <21 nm along the retrieved directions. Due to its unique properties such as three dimensional tracking, straightforward operation, mechanical flexibility, strong confinement, fast and efficient data recording, long observation times, low background scattering, and compatibility with microscopy and fiber circuitry, our concept represents a new paradigm in light-based nanoscale detection techniques, extending the capabilities of the field of nanoparticle tracking analysis and potentially allowing for the observation of so far inaccessible processes at the nanoscale level.

Approximate model for analyzing band structures of single-ring hollow-core anti-resonant fibers

Precise knowledge of modal behavior is of essential importance for understanding light guidance, particularly in hollow-core fibers. Here we present a semi-analytical model that allows determination of bands formed in revolver-type anti-resonant hollow-core fibers. The approach is independent of the actual arrangement of the anti-resonant elements, does not enforce artificial lattice arrangements and allows determination of the effective indices of modes of preselected order. The simulations show two classes of modes: (i) low-order modes exhibiting effective indices with moderate slopes and (ii) a high number of high-order modes with very strong effective index dispersion, forming a quasi-continuum of modes. It is shown that the mode density scales with the square of the normalized frequency, being to some extent similar to the behavior of multimode fibers.

Fiber-Enhanced Raman Sensing of Cefuroxime in Human Urine

Fiber-enhanced Raman spectroscopy was developed for the chemically selective and sensitive quantification of the important antibiotic cefuroxime in human urine. A novel optical sensor fiber was drawn and precisely prepared. In this fiber structure, light is strongly confined in the selectively filled liquid core, and the Raman scattered signal is collected with unprecedented efficiency over an extended interaction length. The filling, emptying, and robustness are highly improved due to the large core size (>30 μm). Broadband step-index guidance allows the free choice of the most suitable excitation wavelength in complex body fluids. The limit of detection of cefuroxime in human urine was improved by 2 orders of magnitude (to μM level). The quantification of cefuroxime was achieved in urine after oral administration. This method has great potential for the point-of-care monitoring of antibiotics concentrations and is an important step forward to enable clinicians to rapidly adjust doses.

Onsite cavity enhanced Raman spectrometry for the investigation of gas exchange processes in the Earth's critical zone

Raman gas spectrometry is introduced as a robust, versatile method for onsite, battery-powered field measurements of gases in the unsaturated and saturated critical zone. In this study, depth-profiles of the concentrations of oxygen and carbon dioxide were simultaneously monitored down to ∼70 meters depth in the subsurface via a transect of drilling holes located in the Hainich Critical Zone Exploratory in central Germany. A special multichannel monitoring system was designed to access and analyze these gases non-consumptively onsite in a closed loop measurement cycle. During the timeframe of six months, seasonal changes in groundwater levels and microbial activity were related to changes observed in gas concentrations. High oxygen concentrations were found in the depths surrounding a karstified aquifer complex, while low oxygen concentrations were found in a fractured aquifer complex. Raman gas depth-profiles complement standard dissolved oxygen measurements as they also deliver oxygen concentrations in the unsaturated zone. The measured depth-profiles of the gas concentrations indicated that regions of anoxia can exist between the aquifer complexes. Lateral transport of O₂ in the deeper aquifer complex provides a local source of O₂ that can influence metabolism. Correlations were found between the observed CO₂ concentrations and pH-values, indicating strong control of carbonate equilibria. The concentrations of O₂ and CO₂ were largely decoupled, thus simultaneous measurements of O₂ soil effluxes give additional insights into biotic and abiotic processes in the Hainich CZE. These results illustrate the versatility of robust onsite Raman multigas measurements of the soil atmosphere and how they can contribute to the analysis of complex processes in previous uncharacterized environments in the critical zone.

Single-mode solarization-free hollow-core fiber for ultraviolet pulse delivery

In this paper, we report anti-resonant silica hollow-core fibers (AR-HCFs) for solarization-free ultraviolet (UV) pulse transmission. The new fibers reported have lower attenuation than any previous HCFs for this spectral range. We report a single fiber that guides over a part of the UV-C and the whole of the UV-A spectral regions in adjacent transmission bands. A second AR-HCF is used for delivery of 17 nanosecond laser pulses at 266 nm at 30 kHz repetition rate. The fiber maintained a constant transmission, free of silica fluorescence and solarization-induced fiber degradation while delivering 0.46 μJ pulses for a period of over one hour. By direct comparison, we demonstrate that the single-mode AR-HCF significantly outperforms commercially-available high-OH and solarization-resistant silica multimode fibers for pulsed light delivery in this spectral range.

UV Absorption Spectroscopy in Water-Filled Antiresonant Hollow Core Fibers for Pharmaceutical Detection

Due to a worldwide increased use of pharmaceuticals and, in particular, antibiotics, a growing number of these substance residues now contaminate natural water resources and drinking supplies. This triggers a considerable demand for low-cost, high-sensitivity methods for monitoring water quality. Since many biological substances exhibit strong and characteristic absorption features at wavelengths shorter than 300 nm, UV spectroscopy presents a suitable approach for the quantitative identification of such water-contaminating species. However, current UV spectroscopic devices often show limited light-matter interaction lengths, demand sophisticated and bulky experimental infrastructure which is not compatible with microfluidics, and leave large fractions of the sample analyte unused. Here, we introduce the concept of UV spectroscopy in liquid-filled anti-resonant hollow core fibers, with large core diameters and lengths of approximately 1 m, as a means to overcome such limitations. This extended light-matter interaction length principally improves the concentration detection limit by two orders of magnitude while using almost the entire sample volume-that is three orders of magnitude smaller compared to cuvette based approaches. By integrating the fibers into an optofluidic chip environment and operating within the lowest experimentally feasible transmission band, concentrations of the application-relevant pharmaceutical substances, sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and sodium salicylate (SS), were detectable down to 0.1 µM (26 ppb) and 0.4 µM (64 ppb), respectively, with the potential to reach significantly lower detection limits for further device integration.

Resonance-enhanced multi-octave supercontinuum generation in antiresonant hollow-core fibers

Ultrafast supercontinuum generation in gas-filled waveguides is an enabling technology for many intriguing applications ranging from attosecond metrology towards biophotonics, with the amount of spectral broadening crucially depending on the pulse dispersion of the propagating mode. In this study, we show that structural resonances in a gas-filled antiresonant hollow core optical fiber provide an additional degree of freedom in dispersion engineering, which enables the generation of more than three octaves of broadband light that ranges from deep UV wavelengths to near infrared. Our observation relies on the introduction of a geometric-induced resonance in the spectral vicinity of the ultrafast pump laser, outperforming gas dispersion and yielding a unique dispersion profile independent of core size, which is highly relevant for scaling input powers. Using a krypton-filled fiber, we observe spectral broadening from 200 nm to 1.7 μm at an output energy of ∼ 23 μJ within a single optical mode across the entire spectral bandwidth. Simulations show that the frequency generation results from an accelerated fission process of soliton-like waveforms in a non-adiabatic dispersion regime associated with the emission of multiple phase-matched Cherenkov radiations on both sides of the resonance. This effect, along with the dispersion tuning and scaling capabilities of the fiber geometry, enables coherent ultra-broadband and high-energy sources, which range from the UV to the mid-infrared spectral range.

Analytic model for the complex effective index of the leaky modes of tube-type anti-resonant hollow core fibers

Due to their promising applications, hollow-core fibers, in particular, their anti-resonant versions, have recently attracted the attention of the photonics community. Here, we introduce a model that approximates, using the reflection of a wave on a single planar film, modal guidance in tube-type anti-resonant waveguides whose core diameters are large compared to the wavelength. The model yields analytic expressions for the real and imaginary parts of the complex effective index of the leaky modes supported, and is valid in all practically relevant situations, excellently matching all the important dispersion and loss parameters. Essential principles such as the fourth power dependence of the modal loss on the core radius at all wavelengths and the geometry-independent transition refractive index, below which modal discrimination favors the fundamental mode are discussed. As application examples, we use our model for understanding higher-order mode suppression in revolver-type fibers and for uncovering the tuning capabilities associated with nonlinear pulse propagation.

Guiding light in a water core all-solid cladding photonic band gap fiber - an innovative platform for fiber-based optofluidics

We present a single-channel photonic band gap fiber design allowing for guiding light inside a water core, which is surrounded by solid microstructured cladding, consisting of an array of high refractive index strands in silica. We address all relevant properties and show that the microstructure substantially reduces loss. We also introduce a ray reflection model, matching numerical modelling and allowing for time-effective large-scale parameter sweeps. Our single channel fiber concept is particularly valuable for applications demanding fast and reliable injection of liquids into the core, with potential impact in fields such as optofluidics, spectroscopy or bioanalytics.

Vibrational spectroscopic characterization of arylisoquinolines by means of Raman spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations

Seven new AIQ antimalarial agents were investigated using FT-NIR and deep-UV resonance Raman spectroscopy.

Photochemistry in a soft-glass single-ring hollow-core photonic crystal fibre

A single-ring hollow-core photonic crystal fibre (HC-PCF), guided by anti-resonant reflection, is investigated as a highly efficient and versatile microreactor for liquid-phase photochemistry and catalysis.

Analytic model for the complex effective index dispersion of metamaterial-cladding large-area hollow core fibers

We present a mathematical model that allows interpreting the dispersion and attenuation of modes in hollow-core fibers (HCFs) on the basis of single interface reflection, giving rise to analytic and semi-analytic expressions for the complex effective indices in the case where the core diameter is large and the guiding is based on the reflection by a thin layer. Our model includes two core-size independent reflection parameters and shows the universal inverse-cubed core diameter dependence of the modal attenuation of HCFs. It substantially reduces simulation complexity and enables large scale parameter sweeps, which we demonstrate on the example of a HCF with a highly anisotropic metallic nanowire cladding, resembling an indefinite metamaterial at high metal filling fractions. We reveal design rules that allow engineering modal discrimination and show that metamaterial HCFs can principally have low losses at mid-IR wavelengths (< 1 dB/m at 10.6 µm). Our model can be applied to a great variety of HCFs with large core diameters and can be used for advanced HCF design and performance optimization, in particular with regard to dispersion engineering and modal discrimination.

Modal analysis of antiresonant hollow core fibers using S2 imaging

We analyze the higher-order core mode content in various designs of antiresonant hollow core fibers using spatially and spectrally resolved imaging. Hollow core fibers have great potential for a variety of applications, and understanding their mode content is crucial for many of these. Two different designs of hollow core fibers are considered, the first with eight nontouching rings and the second with eight touching rings forming a closed boundary core. The mode content of each fiber is measured as a function of length and bending diameter. Low amounts of higher-order modes were found in both hollow core fibers, and mode specific and bending-dependent losses have been determined. This study aids in understanding the core modes of hollow core fibers and possible methods of controlling them.

Bending-induced mode non-degeneracy and coupling in chalcogenide negative curvature fibers

We study bend loss in chalcogenide negative curvature fibers with different polarizations, different tube wall thicknesses, and different bend directions relative to the mode polarization. The coupling between the core mode and tube modes induces bend loss peaks in the two non-degenerate modes at the same bend radius. There is as much as a factor of 28 difference between the losses of the two polarization modes. The fiber with a larger tube wall thickness, corresponding to a smaller inner tube diameter, can sustain a smaller bend radius. The bend loss is sensitive to the bend direction when coupling occurs between the core mode and tube modes. A bend loss of 0.2 dB/m at a bend radius of 16 cm, corresponding to 0.2 dB/turn, can be achieved in a chalcogenide negative curvature fiber.

Broadband robustly single-mode hollow-core PCF by resonant filtering of higher-order modes

We report a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber that is engineered so as to strongly suppress higher-order modes, i.e., to provide robust LP₀₁ single-mode guidance in all the wavelength ranges where the fiber guides with low loss. Encircling the core is a single ring of nontouching glass elements whose modes are tailored to ensure resonant phase-matched coupling to higher-order core modes. We show that the resulting modal filtering effect depends on only one dimensionless shape parameter, akin to the well-known d/Λ parameter for endlessly single-mode solid-core PCF. Fabricated fibers show higher-order mode losses some ∼100 higher than for the LP₀₁ mode, with LP₀₁ losses <0.2  dB/m in the near-infrared and a spectral flatness ∼1  dB over a >110  THz bandwidth.

Low-loss single-mode hollow-core fiber with anisotropic anti-resonant elements

A hollow-core fiber using anisotropic anti-resonant tubes in the cladding is proposed for low loss and effectively single-mode guidance. We show that the loss performance and higher-order mode suppression is significantly improved by using symmetrically distributed anisotropic anti-resonant tubes in the cladding, elongated in the radial direction, when compared to using isotropic, i.e. circular, anti-resonant tubes. The effective single-mode guidance of the proposed fiber is achieved by enhancing the coupling between the cladding modes and higher-order-core modes by suitably engineering the anisotropic anti-resonant elements. With a silica-based fiber design aimed at 1.06 µm, we show that the loss extinction ratio between the higher-order core modes and the fundamental core mode can be more than 1000 in the range 1.0-1.65 µm, while the leakage loss of the fundamental core mode is below 15 dB/km in the same range.

All-fiber reflecting temperature probe based on the simplified hollow-core photonic crystal fiber filled with aqueous quantum dot solution

An all-fiber reflecting fluorescent temperature probe is proposed based on the simplified hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (SHC-PCF) filled with an aqueous CdSe/ZnS quantum dot solution. SHC-PCF is an excellent PCF used to fill liquid materials, which has low loss transmission bands in the visible wavelength range and enlarged core sizes. Both end faces of the SHC-PCF were spliced with multimode fiber after filling in order to generate a more stable and robust waveguide structure. The obtained temperature sensitivity dependence of the emission wavelength and the self-referenced intensity are 126.23 pm/°C and -0.007/°C in the temperature range of -10°C-120°C, respectively.