Jun-ichi Sakai Vol. 28, No. 11 / November 2011 / J. Opt. Soc. Am.

B 2755

Analytical expression of core and cladding material

losses effect in Bragg fibers using the
perturbation theory

Jun-ichi Sakai
Faculty of Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University, Noji-higashi, Kusatsu-city, Shiga 525-8577, Japan
([email protected])

Received June 30, 2011; revised September 5, 2011; accepted September 11, 2011;
posted September 13, 2011 (Doc. ID 150244); published October 24, 2011
We present an analytical expression of fiber loss caused by core and cladding material losses for the TE mode of
hollow-core and nonhollow-core Bragg fibers using the perturbation theory. The fiber loss agrees well with pre-
vious numerical results. Under the quarter-wave stack (QWS) condition, the expression gives the explicit depen-
dence of the fiber loss on the fiber structural parameters, the wavelength, and the mode. The combined effect of the
material with the confinement losses is also studied. It is quantitatively revealed that the core material loss affects
the fiber loss much more than the cladding material losses, depending on the optical power confinement factor.
The position of the minimum fiber loss corresponds well to the condition satisfying a generalized QWS condition
even in the nonhollow-core Bragg fibers. © 2011 Optical Society of America
OCIS codes: 060.2270, 060.2310, 060.2400.

1. INTRODUCTION ment loss [21]. A phase theory shows [24] that the generalized
Several kinds of photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) have been pro- QWS condition extending the QWS condition is equivalent to
posed and fabricated. Some PCFs include air holes, such as the central gap point in a stratified planar antiresonant reflect-
index-guiding holey fibers [1,2], hollow-core photonic band- ing optical waveguide (SPARROW) model [18], which extends
gap (PBG) fibers [3], and Bragg fibers [4–6]. Their application the ARROW model [25].
ranges can be widened by filling their holes with gas [7,8] or This paper provides an analytical expression of fiber loss
liquid [9]. In a modified Bragg fiber with cylindrically sym- caused by core and cladding material losses for the TE mode
metric geometry, the core is fabricated by the same solid of the Bragg fibers and exemplifies some characteristics, since
material as that of low-index cladding [10,11]. In such cases, the TE01 mode typically has the lowest loss of all modes
we must consider the effect of the core and cladding material [13,26]. This paper proceeds as follows. Section 2 derives ana-
losses. lytical expressions of the fiber loss based on the core and clad-
In PCFs whose guiding principle is based on the PBG, the ding material losses as well as their explicit expressions under
finite thickness of the periodic cladding gives rise to an optical the QWS condition using the perturbation theory. Section 3
leakage called confinement loss [12], which we must study as shows the numerical results of the hollow-core Bragg fiber
well as the core and cladding material losses in PCFs. and also estimates the optical loss of a real fiber. Section 4
The confinement loss of the Bragg fiber has been investi- studies the effect of the core index and core material loss
gated by such numerical means as the transfer matrix method in the nonhollow-core Bragg fiber. Section 5 investigates
[13], Chew’s method [14,15], a combination of exact and the relationship of the fiber loss with the generalized QWS
asymptotic analyses [16], a multilayer division (MLD) method condition in the nonhollow-core Bragg fiber. Section 6 pro-
[17], the finite element method [18], and the delta function vides our conclusion.
method [19]. The combined effect of confinement and clad-
ding material losses in Bragg fiber has also been studied 2. ESTIMATION OF FIBER LOSS CAUSED
numerically [16,20]. BY MATERIAL LOSSES USING
Analytical approaches have been explored to characterize PERTURBATION THEORY
Bragg fiber since numerical means are disadvantageous for A. Basic Equations of Material Losses Effect
comprehensively grasping its characteristics. An analytical Consider a Bragg fiber with a finite number of periodic clad-
expression of the confinement loss in Bragg fibers has used ding layer pairs and material losses (Fig. 1). The fiber consists
the perturbation theory and asymptotic expansion approxima- of a core surrounded by periodic cladding and external re-
tion, and its numerical examples have been presented [21]. gions. The core index is nc , and its radius is r c . The periodic
Optical fiber loss based on cladding material losses has been cladding has finite number N of layer pairs that consist of
formulated for several modes [22]. high-index na and low-index nb (na > nb > nc ). The corre-
Using the quarter-wave stack (QWS) condition, under sponding layer thicknesses are a and b, and the cladding per-
which an optical wave is efficiently confined to the core, iod is Λ
a  b. The optical loss coefficients are indicated by
vastly simplifies the eigenvalue equation [23]. The QWS con- αi (i
a; b; c) for the individual layers and core, respectively.
dition also leads to explicit expressions of the above confine- Assume that N layer pairs have cladding material losses for

0740-3224/11/112755-10$15.00/0 © 2011 Optical Society of America

2756 J. Opt. Soc. Am. B / Vol. 28, No. 11 / November 2011 Jun-ichi Sakai

n periodic cladding external Substituting Eq. (3) into Eq. (2) leads to fiber loss:
m-th region
na
a b nc kc I core  na ka I pe;a  nb kb I pe;b k20
core am Imβp1 
− ; 4
nb =
bm β∞ I tot
nex A
c
nc
c a b
where I tot denotes the total power and is defined by
0 r
0 rc rc+N Z Z
Fig. 1. (Color online) Schematic of Bragg fiber. r c , core radius; nc , I tot ≡ ∣Ψ∞ ∣2 dS
I core  I ∞a  I ∞b : 5
refractive index of core; na and nb , refractive indices of layers with
thicknesses a and b; Λ
a  b, period in periodic region; nex , refrac-
tive index of external region; N, number of periodic cladding pairs; Integral parameters, I core , I pe;a , and I pe;b indicate the integrals
na > nb > nc ; αi i
a; b; c, optical loss coefficients for individual over the core, periodic cladding layer a, and periodic cladding
regions. layer b, respectively. I ∞a and I ∞b , which indicate integral para-
meters over infinite periodic cladding layers a and b, are ob-
the present perturbation theory, and cladding consists of N tainable by setting N
∞ in I pe;a and I pe;b . The fiber loss
periodic layer pairs and an infinite external region with exter- originating from the core and cladding material losses can
nal index nex for the MLD method. Index nex is set to nex
nb . also be expressed as
The complex refractive indices are defined by
nc αc Γc  na αa Γa;N  nb αb Γb;N
αIi Lmat
; 6
n~ i
ni − iki ; ki ≡ i
a; b; c; 1 β∞ =k0
2k0
with the aid of Lmat dB=km
−20=ln10109 Imβp1 μm−1 .
where ki is the extinction coefficient [27] and k0 is the Here,
wavenumber of vacuum. αIi stands for the optical intensity
absorption coefficient and is related to αi dB=km
I core I pe;i
Γc ≡ ; Γi;N ≡ i
a; b 7
104 log eαIi m−1 . I tot I tot
We use cylindrical coordinates (r; θ; z) with optical propa-
gation axis z to analyze the present problem. Assume that the is the fractional power flowing in particular region i. Γc is
waveguide structure is independent of z. Electromagnetic called the optical power confinement factor. For N
∞,
field components are assumed to have a spatiotemporal fac- Γa;N  Γb;N  Γc
1 holds. This equality implies that in a fi-
tor of U tz
expiωt − βz with angular frequency ω and ber with an infinite periodic cladding, all the power escaping
complex propagation constant β; the factor is dropped off the core is eventually reflected back. Equation (6) indicates a
hereafter. general expression of the fiber loss of the Bragg fibers, con-
The Bragg fiber with material losses is regarded as a per- sidering core αc and cladding material losses αa and αb . The
fiber loss has strong dependence on the fractional power of
turbation from an unperturbed fiber with infinite periodic
each region.
cladding and no material losses. The confinement loss Lconf
of the unperturbed fiber is zero because its propagation con-
B. Expressions of Material Losses for General Cases
stant is real. In this framework, the fiber loss caused by the We exploit the electromagnetic fields under an asymptotic
material losses is calculated from the imaginary part Imβ expansion approximation [23] to calculate the integral
of propagation constant β, and it is required that Imβ < 0. parameters. When E θ is used as Ψ∞ in Eq. (5), the integral
Let the unperturbed fiber have propagation constant β∞ parameters are calculated
and field Ψ∞ . Assume that β
β∞  βp1 with βp1 being the pro-
pagation constant of the first-order perturbation. Using the r 2c 2
perturbation theory leads to an expression of βp1 as [21] I core
4π∣Ac ∣2 ωμ0 2 J κc r c   J 21 κ c r c 
κ2c 0
RR 2
ϵp rk20 ∣Ψ∞ ∣2 dS − J κ r J κ r ; 8a
βp1
RR ; 2 κc r c 0 c c 1 c c
2β∞ ∣Ψ∞ ∣2 dS
ωμ0 2 1 − R2N
where integration is made over the entire fiber cross section. I pe;a
4 TE
f∣a1 ∣2  ∣b1 ∣2 κa a − a21  b21 cosκa a
κ4a 1 − R2TE
Here, ϵp r denotes the dielectric constant change due to the
− ia21 − b21 sinκ a a sinκa ag; 8b
material losses and is represented by
in the same way as in [21]. Here, μ0 denotes the magnetic
ϵp r≡ n~ 2i −n2i
−2ini ki −k2i
8 permeability of the vacuum, and κ i denotes the lateral propa-
>
> i
c; 0 ≤ r ≤ r c gation constant defined by
<
for i
a; r c m−1Λ ≤ r ≤ r c m−1Λa : 3
>
> κi
ni k0 2 − β2∞ 1=2 i
a; b; c: 9
:
i
b; r c m−1Λa ≤ r ≤ r c mΛ m
1−N
Ac indicates the amplitude coefficient of the core (see Fig. 1),
Equation (3) means that core material loss exists and cladding and am and bm are the amplitude coefficients of the Ez and
material losses range from the first to Nth layer pairs. iE θ components, respectively, in mth cladding layer a. J ν
Jun-ichi Sakai Vol. 28, No. 11 / November 2011 / J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 2757

indicates the Bessel function of order ν. In RTE ≡ D. Expressions of Material Losses under QWS Condition
ReX TE   fReX TE 2 − 1g1=2 , X TE is a diagonal element of When the QWS condition is exploited, several expressions are
the transformation matrix [23]. I pe;b can be given by an expres- explicitly given, as shown next. The integral parameters are
sion where the symbol and subscript a are replaced by b, and obtained as
amplitude coefficients a1 and b1 are replaced with a01 and b01 of
cladding layer b in Eq. (8b). U 2QWS
I core
4π∣Ac ∣2 ωμ0 2 J 20 U QWS  ; 12a
κ4c
C. Several Expressions of QWS Condition
 2N 
1 r aλ2 a
The QWS condition, κa a
κ b b
π=2, has been introduced as I pe;a
∣Ac ∣2 ωμ0 2 J 20 U QWS  2c 0 2 1 − ; 12b
π na − nb b
a condition where an optical wave is efficiently confined to
the core in the Bragg fiber [4]. The QWS condition has been r 4c
extended to a generalized QWS condition [24]. A phase theory I tot
4π∣Ac ∣2 ωμ0 2 J 20 U QWS 
U 2QWS
showed [24] that the in-phase condition at the core-cladding
  
1 Λ U QWS 2
interface is equivalent to the generalized QWS condition in the × 1 2 : 12c
one-dimensional and cylindrically symmetric two-dimensional na − n2b r c r c k0
structures with periodic cladding and that the generalized
An expression of I pe;b is obtained in a manner similar to that
QWS condition is identical with the central gap point in the
explained after Eq. (8a). It is natural that the value shown in
SPARROW model [18].
Eq. (12c) is real and positive.
Under the generalized QWS condition, the fiber parameters
When both the core and cladding material losses are con-
are not arbitrarily chosen. By requiring the in-phase condition
sidered, the fiber loss is represented by an explicit expression
together with the existence of modes within the core, cladding
layer thicknesses a and b must satisfy 
Lmat
4πnc αc r 3c

  
a q − 1=2 2 U QWS λ0 2 −1=2
 2N  

1 na − n2c  ; 10a U 2QWS λ20 a
λ0 2 2πr c  1 − n α
a a a  n α
b b b
π n2a − n2b b

 2 −1
1 Λ U QWS

   × 2β∞ r 3c λ0 −1 1  2 13
b q − q1  1=2 2 U QWS λ0 2 −1=2 na − n2b r c r c k0

2 nb − n2c  ; 10b
λ0 2 2πr c
by substituting Eqs. (12a)–(12c) into Eq. (6). Thicknesses a
where q1 and q2 are integers with q2 ≥ q1 ≥ 1 [24]. Here, U QWS and b in the last term of the braces of Eq. (13) reflect that ratio
is a parameter explained later in Eq. (11). Equations (10a) and Γa;N =Γb;N of the fractional powers equals ratio a=b under the
(10b) include the core, the cladding, and the mode param- QWS condition, as shown later in Eq. (17).
eters. If we set q1
q2
1 in Eqs. (10a) and (10b), then In particular, for a case of only the cladding material losses
the above expressions are reduced to the prior results under (αc
0) such as the hollow core, we have an explicit expres-
the QWS condition [23]. We found from Eq. (10a) that cladding sion of the fiber loss caused by cladding material losses
thickness a can be increased by increasing the value of q1
U 2QWS 1 − a=b2N na αa a  nb αb b
without changing the remaining parameters. Lmat

Physical meaning of Eqs. (10a) and (10b) is explained as β∞ k0 r 3c n2a − n2b 

  
follows. The in-phase condition of reflected waves at the 1 Λ U QWS 2 −1
× 1 2 : 14
core–cladding boundary imposes on a restriction of κa and na − n2b r c r c k0
κ b [24]. The in-phase condition leads to that core fields be-
come the node or antinode at the core–cladding boundary We can deduce the following properties from Eq. (14):
[see Eq. (11)]. One obtains the above equations from a com-
mon β∞ between the core and cladding. Hence, the cladding i. Lmat is proportional to r −3
c and U QWS .
2

thicknesses a and b are related to the core parameters, nc and ii. Lmat includes propagation constant β∞ in the denomina-
r c , under the generalized QWS condition. tor. The change in β∞ =k0 is small except for the guiding limit
Under the QWS and generalized QWS conditions, the eigen- where a mode is no longer guided due to approaching the
value equation of the Bragg fiber can be simplified [23,24]. The band edges.
iii. Lmat is proportional to 1 − a=b2N . A factor of a=b2N
simplified eigenvalue equation of the TE mode is given by
is of the order of 10−3 for N
5 and 10−6 for N
10 under

 2 1=2 na
2:5 and nb
1:5 in the TE01 mode. Hence, the factor
rc 2 β
κ c r c
2π nc − ∞
U QWS ; 11 is negligibly smaller than unity.
λ0 k0 iv. In the last term, a portion other than unity is negligibly
small compared to the unity for practical values. Then Eq. (14)
where U QWS
j 1;μ
j 00;μ1 for the TE0μ mode. Here, j ν;μ and is moreover simplified.
j 0ν;μ indicate the μth zeros of Bessel function J ν and its deriva-
tive J 0ν with respect to the argument, respectively. ν and μ For a sufficiently large core (r c =λ0 ≫ 1:0) under the QWS
stand for the azimuthal and radial mode numbers. condition, a=λ0 and b=λ0 can be represented in terms of only
2758 J. Opt. Soc. Am. B / Vol. 28, No. 11 / November 2011 Jun-ichi Sakai

the refractive indices ni and resonance order qi , as seen from with N^ ≡ 1=42  b=a  a=b. Here, S TE
2 loga=b is
Eqs. (10a) and (10b). Effective index β∞ =k0 is approximated the slope of the TE mode in the semilogarithmic plot.
by nc with the help of Eq. (11). Equation (14) is reduced to Equation (19) means that N tr is inversely proportional to S TE .
N tr can be calculated as a function of the fiber structural


πU 2QWS na αa nb αb parameters, the operation wavelength, and cladding material
Lmat
 15 losses αi . N tr can be used to determine the maximum number
2nc n2a − n2b r 3c k30 n2a − n2c 1=2 n2b − n2c 1=2
of layers required to fabricate a fiber in order to make the loss
for large Ns. Equation (15) indicates that Lmat can be repre- material limited rather than confinement limited, which is use-
sented without the information of cladding layer thicknesses. ful since many layers are difficult to be fabricated in such
The fiber loss including core and cladding material losses structures.
can numerically be evaluated by setting complex refractive When N tr αa  is defined as that for αa
αb under the fixed
index for their materials in numerical methods, such as the fiber structural parameters and the wavelength, we obtain
transfer matrix [13], Chew’s [14,15], and MLD methods [20].
log αa − 1
However, the present explicit expression of material losses N tr αa 
N tr 10  ; 20
S TE
effect enables us to evaluate the fiber loss by a simple calcu-
lation, as shown in Eqs. (13) and (14). Moreover, the large which is also in exact coincidence with an empirical
core approximation, Eq. (15), enables us to estimate Lmat even Equation [20].
without the cladding layer thicknesses unlike numerical meth-
ods. This is a merit of the purely analytical approach.
3. NUMERICAL RESULTS OF HOLLOW-
CORE BRAGG FIBER
E. Expressions of Several Parameters under QWS
In this section, the results based on the perturbation theory
Condition
are compared with the results of the previous numerical
The optical power confinement factor is expressible as
means.

  
1 Λ U QWS 2 −1
Γc
1  16 A. Comparison of Lmat with Previous Numerical Results
n2a − n2b r c r c k0
Figure 2 is a logarithmic plot of loss Lmat caused by the clad-
ding material losses as a function of core radius r c and clad-
under the QWS condition by substituting Eqs. (12a) and (12c)
ding high-index na . The cladding material losses are set at
into Eq. (7). From Eq. (12b) and its corresponding equation to
αa
αb
10 dB=km. The fiber parameters are λ0
1:0 μm,
the periodic layers b, we have
nc
1:0, nb
nex
1:5, and N
40. Cladding thicknesses

 2N  a and b are determined to satisfy the QWS condition for each
a Γa;N a
Γa;N  Γb;N
1 − Γc  1 − ;
: 17 r c and na . The results are given using Eq. (14). For compar-
b Γb;N b ison, we plot the results [20] computed by the MLD method
that does not use approximation. This figure shows excellent
Since (1 − Γc ) corresponds to (Γa;N  Γb;N ) for N
∞, their agreement of Lmat between the present perturbation theory
difference increases with reducing N. Ratio Γa;N =Γb;N is equal and the MLD method. For all the cases plotted, their relative
to ratio a=b of cladding layer thicknesses despite N. difference is less than 0.1% and 0.01% at r c
2:0 and 10:0 μm,
Assume that the fiber structural parameters and the opera- respectively. The agreement also supports the validity of the
tion wavelength are fixed in the Bragg fibers. The fiber loss for
cladding material losses αa
αb is defined by Lmat αa . Then, 1.0E+02
TE01 TE02 TE03
all terms are common except for the last term of the numera-
na=2.5
tor in Eq. (14). Therefore, we have
1.0E+00 na=3.5
α
Lmat (dB/km)

Lmat αa 
a Lmat 10; 18

10
1.0E-02
which exactly agrees with an empirical equation [20]. na=4.5
Lmat and confinement loss Lconf are inclined to be dominant
for large and small Ns, respectively [20]. A cross-point of the 1.0E-04
Symbols, perturbation
asymptotes of Lconf and Lmat is designated by transition point
N tr . When we use Eq. (14) for Lmat and Eq. 50 of [21] for Lconf , Curves, MLD
transition point N tr is represented by 1.0E-06
0.1 1 10 50
 core radius rc ( m )
1
N tr
logna αa a  nb αb b − logn2a − n2b 3 a5 k50  Fig. 2. (Color online) Comparison of Lmat dependence on core radius
S TE for the TE0μ mode as function of na . λ0
1:0 μm, nc
1:0, nb

 
b=aN^ 1  b=aN^ nex
1:5, αa
αb
10 dB=km, and N
40. Cladding layer thick-
− log −  logb=aN^ − 1 nesses a and b are determined to satisfy the QWS condition for each
1 − a=bN^ 21 − a=b2  case. Curves indicate data for the MLD method: solid curves, TE01
 mode; dashed curves, TE02 mode; dotted–dashed curves, TE03 mode.
 logπ 3 ln 10 − log 2 − 10 19 Shaped cases are data for perturbation theory: circles; TE01 mode;
crosses, TE02 mode; triangles, TE03 mode.
Jun-ichi Sakai Vol. 28, No. 11 / November 2011 / J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 2759

mode dependence shown by U 2QWS in Eq. (14) because the sions of Lmat secure high accuracy under the QWS condition
cladding thicknesses only depend on the refractive indices as well as for general cases.
and the wavelength for r c =λ0 ≫ 1:0 under the QWS condition.
In Fig. 2, Lmat decreases in inverse proportion to the third B. Relative Magnitude of Lmat and Lconf
power of r c for a fixed na except for the vicinity of the guiding An analytical expression of confinement loss Lconf has been
limits, as expected from Eq. (14). A similar dependence was derived, although it is slightly underestimated [21]. We employ
also obtained in the confinement loss [13,17] as well as in the it to estimate the loss of the Bragg fiber with the finite periodic
optical power confinement factor [28,29] of the Bragg fiber. cladding region. We call the sum of Lmat and Lconf the
An extremely large loss takes place near the guiding limits fiber loss.
of r c because the β∞ included in the denominator of Figure 4 semilogarithmically plots the dependence of the
Eq. (14) approaches zero near the guiding limit. We can obtain fiber loss on N periodic cladding pairs for several TE0μ modes.
low fiber loss Lmat that is much less than cladding material The fiber parameters are λ0
1:0 μm, r c
2:0 μm, nc
1:0,
losses αi except in the vicinity of the guiding limits in the hol- na
2:5, nb
nex
1:5, and αa
αb
10 dB=km. The re-
low-core Bragg fiber. For r c
2:0, 5.0, and 10:0 μm at na
2:5 sults of the MLD method are plotted for comparison. As N in-
of the TE01 mode, we obtain Lmat values less than about 10−2 , creases, the fiber loss of the individual modes decreases and
10−3 , and 10−4 times the cladding material losses, respectively, converges to a constant value unique to the mode. No appre-
because the values of optical power confinement factor Γc are ciable difference can be identified between the perturbation
0.99625, 0.99975, and 0.999969 [29]. These relatively low fiber theory and the MLD method for large Ns. Lconf and Lmat are
losses are attributed to a high confinement factor in the predominant for small and large Ns, respectively. The analytic
expression of Lconf is underestimated, but the analytic expres-
hollow-core Bragg fiber.
sion of Lmat has an excellent accuracy, as stated above. For
The wavelength dependence of loss Lmat is shown in Fig. 3
the TE01 , TE02 , and TE03 modes, the values of transition point
for the TE01 mode as a function of core radius r c and cladding
N tr are 16.2, 17.6, and 19.7, respectively, using the MLD meth-
high-index na . This is calculated using Eq. (6) combined with
od; they are 15.0, 16.4, and 18.5 using Eq. (19). Since the Lconf
Eqs. (8a) and (8b). Only the fundamental PBG is shown here.
derived by the perturbation theory is slightly underestimated,
The fiber parameters are nc
1:0, nb
nex
1:5, and αa

the N tr calculated from the same theory is also underesti-
αb
10 dB=km. Other fiber parameters satisfy the QWS con-
mated by about unity.
dition at λQWS
1:0 μm, and then the wavelength is varied by The dependence of the fiber loss on the wavelength is
keeping the remaining parameters unchanged. The number of shown in Fig. 5 for the TE01 mode as a function of the numbers
periodic cladding pairs is N
40. We can also find excellent of N of the periodic cladding pairs. The fiber structural param-
agreement between the present analytical expression and the eters and cladding material losses are the same as those in
MLD method for any cases despite different N values, because Fig. 4. After the fiber structural parameters are fixed at
the cladding fields sufficiently decay for such a large N. Lmat λQWS
1:0 μm, only the wavelength is changed. For
decreases with an increase in r c and na . The PBG width has a N
10, which is less than N tr , Lconf is predominant over
stronger dependence on na than on r c . the entire fundamental PBG. For N
20, Lmat is predominant
The results shown in Figs. 2 and 3 are also valid for cladding near the center of PBG, while Lconf is predominant in wave-
loss values other than αa
αb
10 dB=km, as seen from lengths far from its center. For N
40, which is much larger
Eq. (18). Hence, the present analytical and explicit expres-
1.0E+10
1.0E+02
1.0E+08
TE03 perturbation
1.0E+06 TE02
3.5 4.5 MLD
na=2.5
fiber loss (dB/km)

1.0E+00 1.0E+04
rc =2.0 µm TE01
1.0E+02
Lmat (dB/km)

nc=1.1
1.0E+00 1.2
1.3
1.0E-02 5.0 µm 1.0E-02
1.4
1.0E-04
1.45
Lconf, nc=1.0
1.0E-04 1.0E-06
10.0 µm
Symbols, perturbation 1.0E-08 1.495
nc=1.5
Curves, MLD 1.0E-10
1.0E-06 0 10 20 30 40 50
0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 number of cladding-pairs N
wavelength ( m) Fig. 4. (Color online) Comparison of fiber loss, Lmat plus Lconf , depen-
Fig. 3. (Color online) Comparison of Lmat dependence on wavelength dence on number N of periodic cladding pairs for the TE0μ mode.
for the TE01 mode as a function of na and r c . nc
1:0, nb
nex
1:5, λ0
1:0 μm, nc
1:0, r c
2:0 μm, na
2:5, nb
nex
1:5, and
αa
αb
10 dB=km, and N
40. Cladding layer thicknesses satisfy αa
αb
10 dB=km. Cladding layer thicknesses satisfy the QWS con-
the QWS condition at λQWS
1:0 μm for each combination of r c and dition for these parameters: a
0:1082 μm, b
0:2157 μm for TE01
refractive indices. Curves indicate data for the MLD method: solid mode; a
0:1060 μm, b
0:2001 μm for TE02 mode; a
0:1029 μm,
curves, r c
2:0 μm; dashed curves, r c
5:0 μm; dotted–dashed b
0:1811 μm for TE03 mode. Solid and dotted–dashed curves, pertur-
curves, r c
10:0 μm. Shaped symbols are data for perturbation theory. bation theory; dashed curves, MLD method. Squares for nc
1:1 to 1.5
Circles, r c
2:0 μm; crosses, r c
5:0 μm; triangles, r c
10:0 μm. are data used in relation to Fig. 7, where N should be replaced with N r .
2760 J. Opt. Soc. Am. B / Vol. 28, No. 11 / November 2011 Jun-ichi Sakai

1.0E+07
fiber loss, ding material losses is lower by about one order than that of
Lconf, N=10 the fabricated fiber. The disagreement between the
1.0E+03 estimation and measurement is attributed to the assumed
fiber loss,
Lconf, N=40 Lmat, cladding material losses, scattering loss, fiber sizes, and addi-
1.0E-01 N=10 tional losses.
loss (dB/km)

fiber loss,
Lconf, N=20
1.0E-05 Lconf, N=20 4. NUMERICAL RESULTS OF NONHOLLOW-
fiber loss,
CORE BRAGG FIBER
fiber loss,
1.0E-09 Lmat, N=20 L mat, N=40 The Bragg fiber usually has a hollow core. Hence, it can be
used as a sensor by filling its hollow core with gas or liquid,
1.0E-13 as in microstructured optical fibers [7]. Then refractive index
Lconf, N=40 nc of the core is no longer 1.0 and its core may have a material
1.0E-17
loss. Moreover, the core is fabricated by the same solid
0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 material as that of low-index cladding in a modified Bragg fi-
wavelength ( m) ber [10,11]. This section focuses on the effect of the core index
Fig. 5. (Color online) Wavelength dependence of fiber loss, Lmat plus and material loss in a nonhollow-core Bragg fiber. The numer-
Lconf , for the TE01 mode as function of N. Fiber structural parameters ical results of Lconf are calculated using the perturbation
and cladding material losses are the same as those in Fig. 4. Cladding
layer thicknesses satisfy the QWS condition at λQWS
1:0 μm. Dashed
theory [21].
curves, Lmat ; dotted–dashed curves, Lconf . Shaped symbols, fiber loss,
namely, sum of Lmat and Lconf : circles, N
10; crosses, N
20; tri- A. Optical Power Confinement Factor
angles, N
40. The dependence of (1 − Γc ) on core radius r c is logarithmi-
cally plotted in Fig. 6 for the TE01 mode under the QWS con-
than N tr , Lmat is predominant except for the PBG edges. The dition as a function of core index nc and cladding high-index
fiber loss near the center of PBG is governed by Lmat for large na to emphasize the difference of optical power confinement
N and by Lconf for small N, as expected from Fig. 4. factor Γc from unity. This graph is drawn with the aid of
One merit of the present perturbation theory is that the Eq. (16). The fiber parameters are λ0
1:0 μm and nb

fiber loss can be represented by separating Lconf from Lmat , nex
1:5. The results for nc
1:0 are shown for reference.
unlike previous numerical methods. (1 − Γc ) is nearly in inverse proportion to the third power
of r c even for the nonhollow core, as in the hollow core
C. Optical Loss Estimation of Real Fiber [29]. The optical confinement increases with increasing na ,
The hollow-core Bragg fiber enables us to provide fiber loss but decreases with increasing nc for fixed r c . In the case of
that is much less than its material losses, as shown earlier. N
10, we see from Eq. (17) that relative difference between
This subsection applies the present perturbation theory to (1 − Γc ) and (Γa;10  Γb;10 ) is less than 0.1% over the entire r c
the loss estimation of a real fiber that has its fundamental in Fig. 6. Accordingly, the (1 − Γc ) is substantially regarded as
PBG at the 10:6 μm wavelength. (Γa;∞  Γb;∞ ), total power flows in periodic cladding layers a
A loss of 0:95 dB=m was reported at the 10:6 μm wavelength and b.
in a hollow-core Bragg fiber [6]. Its cladding consisted of an
As2 Se3 layer (na ≅ 2:8) and a polyether sulphone film (nb ≅ B. Confinement and Cladding Material Losses
1:55). The fiber parameters were r c
326 μm, a
270 nm, The dependence of Lconf on core index nc is indicated in Fig. 7
b
900 nm, N
10, and an outer diameter of 670 μm for for several TE0μ modes as a function of core radius r c . The
the fundamental PBG of 3:55 μm, where r c and N were iden-
tified from a photograph. Since fiber sizes for the 10:6 μm 1.0E+00

wavelength are not clearly mentioned in [6], we tried to na=2.5

use the scaling law for the estimation of fiber sizes. However, x na=3.5
it did not give fiber sizes that are consistent with each other in 1.0E-02
na=4.5
the present data. Instead, substitution of fiber parameters at
the 3:55 μm wavelength into Eqs. (10a) and (10b) yields q1 ≅ nc=1.0
c

0:898 and q2 ≅ 0:998, implying that the QWS condition can be 1.0E-04
1-

nc=1.2 nc=1.4
used approximately.
Assume that αa ≅ 10 dB=m and αb ≅ 105 dB=m at λ0

10:6 μm [6]. Refractive indices at λ0
10:6 μm are assumed 1.0E-06

to be the same as those at the 3:55 μm wavelength. Use of r c

375 μm is reasonable to applying the large core approximation
r c =λ0 ≫ 1:0. Then, we obtain Lmat
5:05 × 10−2 dB=m for the 1.0E-08
0.1 1 10 50
TE01 mode from Eq. (15) and Lconf
1:64 × 10−7 dB=m from core radius rc ( m)
[21] (Appendix A): Lmat ≫ Lconf . In addition, we have Γb;N
Fig. 6. (Color online) Dependence of (1 − Γc ) on core radius r c for
3:26 × 10−7 from an approximate expression of Γb;N , the TE01 mode as function of core index nc and cladding high-index
π=2U 2QWS =r 3c k30 n2a − n2b n2b − n2c 1=2  for r c =λ0 ≫ 1:0. We also na . λ0
1:0 μm and nb
nex
1:5. Cladding layer thicknesses satisfy
the QWS condition. Solid curves, nc
1:0; dashed curves, nc
1:2;
have Lmat
5:05 × 10−2 dB=m by considering only cladding dotted–dashed curves, nc
1:4. Circles, na
2:5; crosses,
layer b in Eq. (6). The estimated optical loss due to the clad- na
3:5; triangles, na
4:5.
Jun-ichi Sakai Vol. 28, No. 11 / November 2011 / J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 2761

1.0E+02
fiber parameters are λ0
1:0 μm, na
2:5, nb
nex
1:5,
and N
10. Cladding thicknesses a and b are determined na=2.5
to satisfy the QWS condition for each combination of nc , 1.0E-02
r c , and the mode. Lconf is low for lower-order modes because
Lconf is proportional to U 2QWS under the QWS condition [21].

Lconf (dB/km)
1.0E-06
The Lconf of the individual modes decreases with increasing nc
and r c , and its reduction is large especially near nc
1:5. This 1.0E-10
na=4.5
tendency can be explained as follows. Cladding layer thick- na=3.5
nesses a and b increase with an increase in nc under the 1.0E-14
QWS condition, as seen from Eqs. (10a) and (10b). Hence, rc=2 m
an increase in nc increases total periodic cladding thickness 5 m
1.0E-18
NΛ, apparently reducing Lconf . A large increase rate of b in the 10 m
case of nc approaching nb leads to a large reduction rate
1.0E-22
in Lconf . 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5
The results shown in Fig. 7 are studied next. Since Lconf core index nc
generally decreases with increasing periodic cladding thick- Fig. 8. (Color online) Dependence of confinement loss Lconf on core
ness, the magnitudes of Lconf must be compared at the same index nc for the TE01 mode as function of cladding high-index na and
periodic cladding thickness. We compared N of the hollow core radius r c . λ0
1:0 μm, nb
nex
1:5, and N
10. Circles, na

core with N r of the nonhollow core that was reduced to that 2:5; crosses, na
3:5; triangles, na
4:5. Solid curves, r c
2:0 μm;
dashed curves, r c
5:0 μm; dotted–dashed curves, r c
10:0 μm.
of the hollow core. For r c
2:0 μm of the TE01 mode, we have
N r
10:7, 11.6, 13.1, 16.2, and 29.1 for nc
1:1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4,
and 1.5, respectively. Lconf versus N r is plotted in Fig. 4. The can be found. Low-loss regions appear near λ0
λQWS =ℓ with
data are on the left-hand side for 1:0 < nc < 1:495 and on the odd ℓ in all nc . Loss is too high to be observed in the neighbor-
right-hand side for 1:495 < nc ≤ nb against Lconf of the hollow hood of λ0
λQWS =ℓ with even ℓ. The wavelength dependence
core. Figure 4 shows that Lconf changes less than expected of Lconf has qualitatively been explained using a phase theory
from Fig. 7 with an increase in nc under identical periodic [24]. A loss value of nearly 108 dB=km for the MLD method is
cladding thickness. due to the computation limit.
Figure 8 shows the dependence of Lconf on nc for the TE01 The wavelength dependence of the fiber loss is plotted in
mode as a function of cladding high-index na and core radius Fig. 10 for the TE01 mode as a function of cladding high-index
r c . The fiber parameters are λ0
1:0 μm and nb
nex
1:5. na and core radius r c . The fiber parameters are nc
1:4,
Cladding thicknesses a and b are determined to satisfy the nb
nex
1:5, and N
20, and only the cladding material
QWS condition for each combination of nc and r c . Lconf is losses are considered here: αa
αb
10 dB=km. The other
reduced with increases in nc , na , and r c . parameters are set in a manner similar to that in Fig. 9. Only
The wavelength dependence of the Lconf of the TE01 mode the fundamental PBG is shown. Fiber losses are reduced with
is shown in Fig. 9 for several nc values. The fiber parameters an increase in na and r c even for nc ≠ 1:0. The upper band
are r c
2:0 μm, na
2:5, nb
nex
1:5, and N
20. Other edges of PBG widen with increasing na . Lmat is predominant
fiber parameters satisfy the QWS condition at λQWS
over Lconf except for the lower band edges of PBG because N
1:0 μm, and the wavelength is later varied by keeping the re- is larger than transition point N tr . For example, the values of
maining parameters fixed. The results of the MLD method are N tr are obtained to be 8.2, 6.3, and 5.4 for na
2:5, 3.5, and
also plotted for nc
1:4 [24] for comparison. Good accor-
dance between the perturbation theory and the MLD method 1.0E+12

1.0E+06 1.0E+08
nc=1.0
TE03
1.0E+02 1.0E+04
nc=1.2
Lconf (dB/km)

1.0E+00
1.0E-02
Lconf (dB/km)

TE01 TE02 1.0E-04

1.0E-06

1.0E-08
1.0E-10
rc=2 m MLD, nc=1.4
1.0E-12
5 m nc=1.4
1.0E-14
10 m 1.0E-16
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8
1.0E-18 wavelength ( m)
1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5
Fig. 9. (Color online) Wavelength dependence of confinement
core index nc loss of TE01 mode for several nc values. r c
2:0 μm, na
2:5,
Fig. 7. (Color online) Dependence of confinement loss Lconf on core nb
nex
1:5, and N
20. Cladding layer thicknesses satisfy the
index nc for TE0μ modes as function of core radius r c . λ0
1:0 μm, QWS condition at λQWS
1:0 μm for a combination of individual
na
2:5, nb
nex
1:5, and N
10. Circles, TE01 mode; crosses, parameters. All curves are data for perturbation theory; solid curves,
TE02 mode; triangles, TE03 mode. Solid curves, r c
2:0 μm; dashed nc
1:0; dashed curves, nc
1:2; dotted–dashed curves, nc
1:4.
curves, r c
5:0 μm; dotted–dashed curves, r c
10:0 μm. Circles, MLD method, nc
1:4.
2762 J. Opt. Soc. Am. B / Vol. 28, No. 11 / November 2011 Jun-ichi Sakai

1.0E+02 1.0E+05
4
a= b= c=10 dB/km

na=2.5 na=3.5

fiber loss (dB/km)

1.0E+03
4dB/km
1.0E+00 a= b=10
fiber loss (dB/km)

na=4.5 a= b= c=10dB/km
1.0E+01

1.0E-02
a= b=10dB/km
1.0E-01

Lconf
1.0E-04 rc=2 m 1.0E-03
0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8
5 m wavelength ( m)
10 m Fig. 12. (Color online) Wavelength dependence of fiber loss, Lmat
1.0E-06
0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
plus Lconf , for the TE01 mode as function of core and cladding material
losses. Parameters are the same as those in Fig. 11. Solid curves, αa

wavelength ( m) αb
10 dB=km, αc
0 dB=km; dashed curves, αa
αb
104 dB=km,
Fig. 10. (Color online) Wavelength dependence of fiber loss, Lmat αc
0 dB=km; dotted–dashed curves, αa
αb
αc
10 dB=km; two
plus Lconf , for the TE01 mode as function of cladding high-index na dotted–dashed curves, αa
αb
αc
104 dB=km; circles, only Lconf .
and core radius r c . nc
1:4, nb
nex
1:5, αa
αb
10 dB=km, and
N
20. Cladding layer thicknesses satisfy the QWS condition at
λQWS
1:0 μm for a combination of individual parameters. Circles, are determined to satisfy the QWS condition. Since optical
na
2:5; crosses, na
3:5; triangles, na
4:5. Solid curves, power confinement factor Γc
0:994 is obtained for the
r c
2:0 μm; dashed curves, r c
5:0 μm; dotted–dashed curves, present parameters from Fig. 6, we obtain fiber losses less
r c
10:0 μm.
than about 10−2 times the cladding material losses for rela-
tively small αc . When the value of core material loss αc ex-
4.5, respectively, at r c
2:0 μm and λQWS
1:0 μm ceeds about 10−2 αa , the fiber loss is governed by the core
using Eq. (19). material loss. Since the values of Lconf are 1:25 × 10−3 and
In the case of no core material loss, the confinement loss 3:25 × 10−14 dB=km for N
10 and 20, respectively, the fiber
decreases with increasing core index nc for all cases. How- losses for N
20 are almost identical with those for N
10.
ever, the effect of the core material loss must be taken into Figure 12 indicates the wavelength dependence of the fiber
consideration, as shown next. loss of the TE01 mode as a function of material losses αc and
αa
αb . The fiber structural parameters are the same as those
C. Combined Effects of Confinement and Material Losses in Fig. 11 except that the wavelength is varied. Whether core
The dependence of the fiber loss on core material loss αc is loss αc or cladding loss αa exists, material losses raise the fiber
loss more markedly than the confinement loss does. In the
shown in Fig. 11 for the TE01 mode. Three cladding material
absence of material losses, Lconf
1:25 × 10−3 dB=km at
losses are set to αa
αb
10, 104 , and 107 dB=km. The fiber
λ0
1:0 μm. When only the cladding material losses are intro-
parameters are λ0
1:0 μm, r c
2:0 μm, nc
1:4, na
2:5,
duced, we obtain fiber losses less than about 10−2 times the
nb
nex
1:5, and N
10. Cladding thicknesses a and b
cladding material losses near the center of PBG, as expected
1.0E+06 from Fig. 10. On the other hand, when the core material loss is
added, it dominates the fiber loss near the center of PBG.
107dB/km
When αc nearly equals αa
αb , we have flat characteristics
within the PBG since the core material loss is predominate
1.0E+04 over the cladding material losses.
fiber loss (dB/km)

5. RELATIONSHIP OF FIBER LOSS WITH

1.0E+02
10 4dB/km GENERALIZED QWS CONDITION IN
NONHOLLOW CORE
It has been shown that confinement loss Lconf exhibits its mini-
mum loss near the generalized QWS condition in the hollow-
1.0E+00 core Bragg fiber [21]. This section confirms that this fact holds
a= b=10dB/km
even for the presence of fiber loss, namely, the sum of Lconf
and Lmat , in the nonhollow-core Bragg fiber. The wavelength is
fixed at λ0
1:0 μm.
1.0E-02
1.E-02 1.E+00 1.E+02 1.E+04 1.E+06 The dependence of the confinement loss of the TE01 mode
(dB/km) c
on cladding layer thickness a is plotted in Fig. 13 for several nc
Fig. 11. (Color online) Dependence of fiber loss, Lmat plus Lconf , on values in the hollow- and nonhollow-core Bragg fibers. The
core material loss αc for the TE01 mode as function of cladding material fiber parameters are λ0
1:0 μm, r c
2:0 μm, na
2:5,
losses. λ0
1:0 μm, nc
1:4, r c
2:0 μm, na
2:5, nb
nex
1:5, nb
nex
1:5, and N
10. Although cladding layer thick-
and N
10. Cladding layer thicknesses satisfy the QWS condition
at λQWS
1:0 μm. Cladding thicknesses are a
0:1194 μm and
ness b satisfies the QWS condition (q1
q2
1) in Eq. (10b)
b
0:4040 μm. Solid curves, αa
αb
10 dB=km; dashed curves, for a combination of parameters, layer thickness a is arbitra-
αa
αb
104 dB=km; dotted–dashed curves, αa
αb
107 dB=km. rily varied. The regions with finite Lconf values are regarded as
Jun-ichi Sakai Vol. 28, No. 11 / November 2011 / J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 2763

1.0E+08
1.0 despite material losses of αa
αb . The minimum losses are
nc=1.0 1.2 inclined to increase with increasing αa
αb . In case of the
1.0E+06
hollow core, however, they are saturated for small αa espe-
1.4 cially for large q1 because Lconf is higher than Lmat for these
Lconf (dB/km)

1.0E+04
parameters. For example, in the case of αa
αb
104 dB=km,
1.0E+02 the values of Lconf are 76.1, 6:83 × 102 , and 1:89 × 103 dB=km,
but the values of Lmat are 72.2, 1:38 × 102 , and 2:03 ×
nc=1.2
1.0E+00 102 dB=km for q1
1, 2, and 3, respectively, in Eqs. (10a).
In the nonhollow core of Fig. 14, the core material loss of
1.0E-02
nc=1.4 q1=3 αc
104 dB=km is introduced. The fiber loss for the non-
q1=2
hollow core is reduced compared to the hollow core based
q1=1
1.0E-04 on the increase in nc . No remarkable saturation can be found
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
a ( m) for the material losses in this case because Lconf is small. Ac-
Fig. 13. (Color online) Dependence of confinement loss on layer tually, for αa
αb
10:0 dB=km, the values of Lconf are
thickness a for the TE01 mode as function of core index nc . 1:25 × 10−3 , 1:12 × 10−2 , and 3:12 × 10−2 dB=km, but the values
λ0
1:0 μm, r c
2:0 μm, na
2:5, nb
nex
1:5, and N
10. Va- of Lmat are 7:65 × 10−2 , 1:27 × 10−1 , and 1:76 × 10−1 dB=km for
lues of b are 0.2157, 0.2631, and 0:4040 μm for nc
1:0, 1.2, and
q1
1, 2, and 3, respectively. When the core material loss is
1.4, respectively. Crosses indicate positions at which thickness a sa-
tisfies the generalized QWS condition. Three crosses for each nc cor- considered, the fiber loss is governed by the core material loss
respond to q1
1, 2, and 3 in Eq. (10a) from the left. and is nearly flat over the entire PBG region except for the
band edges. The minimum fiber loss is attained near thick-
photonic bands. As nc increases, Lconf decreases. Lconf exhi- ness a where the generalized QWS condition is met, and
bits its minimum value near the crosses where cladding layer the lowest loss is obtained near the QWS condition even
thickness a meets the generalized QWS condition. Three in the nonhollow-core Bragg fiber with core and cladding
crosses for each nc correspond to q1
1, 2, and 3 from the material losses.
left. Lconf is the lowest at q1
q2
1, the QWS condition, Numerical results were presented mostly for a fiber that
as is the case of the hollow-core Bragg fiber [21]. The values satisfies the QWS condition at the 1:0 μm wavelength. How-
of thickness a showing the minimum Lconf slightly shift from ever, the present theory can be applied to any operation
those under the generalized QWS condition. Their relative dif- wavelength. For general cases, we can use expressions given
ferences in a are about 2.0%, 0:03–0:1%, and 0:002–0:06% for in Subsection 2.B. For the QWS condition, expressions given
q1
1, 2, and 3, respectively. The spacing between the photo- in Subsection 2.D are available if the fiber structural param-
nic bands widens with increasing nc , as seen from Eq. (10a). eters are determined according to Eqs. (10a) and (10b).
Figure 14 shows the effect of the core and cladding material
losses of the TE01 mode in the hollow- and nonhollow-core
Bragg fibers. The ordinate indicates the sum of Lconf and 6. CONCLUSION
Lmat . The fiber parameters are determined in a way similar An analytical expression of fiber loss caused by core and clad-
to those in Fig. 13. The width of PBG is nearly unchanged ding material losses is given for the TE mode of hollow- and
1.0E+08 nonhollow-core Bragg fibers using the perturbation theory.
nc=1.0 nc=1.0
nc=1.0 Under the QWS condition, the expression gives explicit ex-
a= b= pressions of the fiber loss on fiber structural parameters,
7
10 dB/km
1.0E+06 wavelength, and mode. The results are in excellent agreement
nc=1.4
fiber loss (dB/km)

nc=1.4 nc=1.4 with the previous numerical results computed by the MLD
1.0E+04 method. The combined effect of the material with confine-
a= b= c=
ment losses was also studied. The core material loss has a sig-
104dB/km nificant influence on the fiber loss much more than the
1.0E+02
cladding material losses. As the core index increases in the
a= b= nonhollow-core fiber, the confinement loss apparently de-
104dB/km
1.0E+00 creases but substantially changes little under the identical per-
iodic cladding thickness. The position of the minimum fiber
a= b=10dB/km loss corresponds well to the condition satisfying a generalized
1.0E-02
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 QWS condition even in the nonhollow-core Bragg fibers.
a ( m)
Fig. 14. (Color online) Dependence of fiber loss, Lmat plus Lconf , on
layer thickness a for the TE01 mode in hollow- and nonhollow-core APPENDIX A: EXPRESSION OF
Bragg fibers as function of material losses. λ0
1:0 μm, r c
CONFINEMENT LOSS FOR LARGE CORE
2:0 μm, na
2:5, nb
nex
1:5, and N
10. Thickness b is fixed APPROXIMATION UNDER QWS CONDITION
at 0:2157 μm for nc
1:0 and at 0:4040 μm for nc
1:4. Solid curves,
αa
αb
10 dB=km; dashed curves, αa
αb
104 dB=km; dotted– For r c =λ0 ≫ 1 under the QWS condition, effective index β∞ =k0
dashed curves, αa
αb
107 dB=km; two dotted–dashed curves, is approximated by core index nc , and the cladding thick-
αa
αb
αc
104 dB=km. Crosses indicate positions at which thick- 1=2 1=2
nesses are approximated by a ≅ λ0 =4N ac and b ≅ λ0 =4N bc
ness a satisfies the generalized QWS condition. Three crosses for in-
dividual material losses correspond to q1
1, 2, and 3 in Eq. (10a) with N ij ≡ ni − nj with the help of Eqs. (10a) and (10b). An
2 2

from the left. explicit expression of the confinement loss is expressed by

2764 J. Opt. Soc. Am. B / Vol. 28, No. 11 / November 2011 Jun-ichi Sakai

   
βp2 π 2 U 2QWS N 2ab N bc N 1 12. T. P. White, R. C. McPhedran, C. M. de Sterke, L. C. Botten, and
Im ≅− M. J. Steel, “Confinement losses in microstructured optical
k0 5=2 N
25 nc r 3c k30 N ac ac ^ ac =N bc 1=2 − 1
NN fibers,” Opt. Lett. 26, 1660–1662 (2001).
 ^ ^ ac =N bc 1=2  13. S. G. Johnson, M. Ibanescu, M. Skorobogatiy, O. Weisberg,
NN ac =N bc 1=2 1  NN T. D. Engeness, M. Soljačić, S. A. Jacobs, J. D. Joannopoulos,
× − ; A1
1 − NN^ bc =N ac 1=2 21 − N bc =N ac  and Y. Fink, “Low-loss asymptotically single-mode propagation
in large-core Omniguide fibers,” Opt. Express 9, 748–779
(2001).
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