A particular photonic crystal fiber (PCF) designed with all circle air holes is proposed. Its characteristics are studied by full-vector finite element method (FEM) with anisotropic perfectly matched layer (PML). The simulation results indicated that the proposed PCF can realize high birefringence (up to 10⁻²), high nonlinearity (50W⁻¹·km⁻¹ and 68W⁻¹·km⁻¹ in X and Y polarizations respectively) and low confinement loss (less than 10⁻³dB/km at 1.55um wavelength).

A polarization splitter based on a new type of dual-core photonic crystal fiber (DC-PCF) is proposed. The effects of geometrical parameters of the DC-PCF on performances of the polarization splitter are investigated by finite element method (FEM). The numerical results demonstrate that the polarization splitter possesses ultra-short length of 119.1 μm and high extinction ratio of 118.7 dB at the wavelength of 1.55 μm. Moreover, an extinction ratio greater than 20 dB is achieved over a broad bandwidth of 249 nm, i.e., from 1417 nm to 1666 nm, covering the S, C and L communication bands.

Light trapping within waveguides is a key practice of modern optics, both scientifically and technologically. Photonic crystal fibers traditionally rely on total internal reflection (index-guiding fibers) or a photonic bandgap (photonic-bandgap fibers) to achieve field confinement. Here, we report the discovery of a new light trapping within fibers by the so-called Dirac point of photonic band structures. Our analysis reveals that the Dirac point can establish suppression of radiation losses and consequently a novel guided mode for propagation in photonic crystal fibers. What is known as the Dirac point is a conical singularity of a photonic band structure where wave motion obeys the famous Dirac equation. We find the unexpected phenomenon of wave localization at this point beyond photonic bandgaps. This guiding relies on the Dirac point rather than total internal reflection or photonic bandgaps, thus providing a sort of advancement in conceptual understanding over the traditional fiber guiding. The result presented here demonstrates the discovery of a new type of photonic crystal fibers, with unique characteristics that could lead to new applications in fiber sensors and lasers. The Dirac equation is a special symbol of relativistic quantum mechanics. Because of the similarity between band structures of a solid and a photonic crystal, the discovery of the Dirac-point-induced wave trapping in photonic crystals could provide novel insights into many relativistic quantum effects of the transport phenomena of photons, phonons, and electrons.

We have demonstrated the realization of on-line temperature-controlled random lasers (RLs) in the polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) nanoparticles (NPs) as well as Pyrromethene 597 (PM597) laser dye, Fe₃O₄/SiO₂ NPs as well as PM597, and only PM597 doped polymer optical fibers (POFs), respectively. The RLs can be obtained from the gained POFs system caused by multiple scattering of emitted light. The refractive index of the fiber core materials can be easily tuned via temperature due to the polymer with large thermo-optic coefficient. Meanwhile, the scattering mean free path of core in the POFs, which is the key role for the emission wavelength of RLs, is strongly dependent on the matrix refractive index. Thus emission wavelength of RLs in the POF temperature can be controlled through changing the temperature. With the increasing the temperature, the RL emission wavelength has occurred red-shift effect for the POFs.

We demonstrate the realization of a polarized random polymer fiber laser (RPFL) in the different disordered gain media doped polymer optical fibers (POFs). Multiple scattering of disordered media in the orientated POF was experimentally verified to account for polarized lasing observed in our RPFL system. This Letter presents a new avenue for fabricating polarized RPFLs in a large scale. Meanwhile, the polarization-maintaining property of random lasing for different disorder POF are researched, which will open a window to designing a polarization-maintaining random fiber laser.