We present a systematic study of group-velocity-dispersion properties in photonic crystal fibers (PCF’s). This analysis includes a thorough description of the dependence of the fiber geometrical dispersion on the structural parameters of a PCF. The interplay between material dispersion and geometrical dispersion allows us to established a well-defined procedure to design specific predetermined dispersion profiles. We focus on flattened, or even ultraflattened, dispersion behaviors both in the telecommunication window (around 1.55 µm) and in the Ti-Za laser wavelength range (around 0.8 µm). We show the different possibilities of obtaining normal, anomalous, and zero dispersion curves in the above frequency domains and discuss the limits for the existence of the above dispersion profiles.

We present a procedure for achieving photonic crystal fibers with nearly zero ultraflattened group-velocity dispersion. Systematic knowledge of the special guiding properties of these fibers permits the achievement of qualitatively novel dispersion curves. Unlike the behavior of conventional fibers, this new type of dispersion behavior permits remarkably improved suppression of third-order dispersion, particularly in the low-dispersion domain.

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Soliton effects are observed at 850 nm in a pure silica photonic crystal fibre with group velocity dispersion (GVD) characteristics unattainable in conventional fibre. Zero GVD is obtained at 740 nm.