Novel design for a single-polarization single-mode photonic crystal fiber at 1310 nm

The paper reports a novel design for single-polarization single-mode (SPSM) operation at 1310 nm in photonic crystal fibers (PCFs), using a rectangular-lattice PCF with two lines of three central air holes enlarged. The proposed PCF, composed entirely of silica, is modeled by a full-vector finite-element method with anisotropic perfectly matched layers. Simulations show that wideband single-polarization operation can be easily realized with the proposed structure. This wideband SPSM operation, the low confinement losses, and the small effective mode area are the main advantages of the proposed fiber. The influence of varying PCF parameters on the SPSM operation is discussed, and numerical results show that the proposed fiber is a SPSM one with confinement loss less than 0.1 dB/km at wavelengths ranging from 1100 to 1460 nm and effective mode area about 4.3 mu m(2) at 1310 nm. (c) 2007 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.