Abstract

We report on an ultracompact fiber optic Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) using a novel concatenated structure, single-mode-fiber (SMF)–hollow optical fiber (HOF)-SMF. An optimized air-hole size in the HOF provided two unique optical paths; the leaky waveguide modes through the central air hole and the radiation channel into the silica cladding, which enabled a compact MZI configuration with enhanced optical performances, such as high visibility, high temperature sensitivity, and wide dynamic range.

© 2008 Optical Society of America

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