Optical Fibre Technology Centre, Australian Photonics Cooperative Research Centre, University of Sydney, 206 National Innovation Centre, Australian Technology Park, NSW 1430, Australia. n.issa@oftc.usyd.edu.au
Abstract:
We report the fabrication of what are believed to be the first microstructured optical fibers with uniformly oriented elliptical holes. A high degree of hole ellipticity is achieved with a simple technique that relies on hole deformation during fiber draw. Both form and stress-optic birefringence are characterized over a broad wavelength range. These measurements are in excellent agreement with numerical modeling and demonstrate a birefringence as high as 1.0 x 10(-4) at a wavelength of 850 nm.