Analysis and design of photonic crystal fibers Solid and hollow core fibers through the finite element method

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to show the effectiveness of the finite element method (FEM) to study the properties of different kinds of photonic crystal fibers (PCFs), presenting results which highlight the FEM flexibility, exploited according to the particular PCF feature under investigation. Design/methodology/approach - The FEM has been applied to a new emerging class of optical fibers, the so-called PCFs, also known as microstructured or holey fibers. Findings - It has been shown how to design and customize the PCF cross-section to achieve desired values of dispersion, confinement loss, nonlinear or amplification properties. Reported examples prove the FEM ability to deal with complex geometries, arbitrary refractive index steps and distribution, and to be integrated with other approaches for a better and accurate analysis of the considered fiber. Research limitations/implications - Limitation in the FEM use can be given by the required computation effort in terms of memory occupancy and time, even if computational power of modem workstations can attenuate this aspect. Practical implications - The FEM can be a very powerful tool to investigate and design actual structures to be used in several fields, as telecom, sensing, fiber lasers, spectroscopy. Originality/value - The novelty of the paper is given by the exploitation of the FEM feature to design a new emerging class of optical fibers, considering all numerical aspects given by the unusual characteristics of the domain and problem under investigation.