We report a new type of silica-based all-solid fiber with a 2-D nanostructure core. The nanostructure core fiber (NCF) is formed by a 2-D array of high-index rods of sub-wavelength dimensions. We theoretically study the birefringence property of such fibers over a large wavelength range. Large-mode-area (LMA) structure with a typical high birefringence in the order of $10^{-4}$ can be easily realized. The attenuation of the fabricated NCF is as low as 3.5 dB/km at 1550 nm. Higher macro- and micro-bending losses compared with those of the single-mode fiber (SMF) due to the reduced index difference have been observed experimentally, which suggests that the NCF is potentially useful for curvature and strain sensing applications. A fiber Bragg grating (FBG) inscribed in such a novel fiber is side-polished to make use of its evanescent field for refractive index sensing. The refractive index sensitivity obtained is one order of magnitude higher than that of the side-polished FBG in SMF, while the temperature and strain performances are comparable with those of the SMF-based FBG.

© 2009 IEEE

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Citation lists with outbound citation links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription