A highly sensitive, polarization maintaining photonic crystal fiber sensor operating in the THz regime

Abstract

In this paper, a high sensitivity, polarization preserving photonic crystal fiber (PCF), based on circular air holes for sensing in the terahertz (THz) band, is presented. The finite element method, a practical and precise computational technique for describing the interactions between light and matter, is used to compute the modal properties of the designed fiber. For the designed PCF, comprising of circular air holes in both the cladding and in the porous core, a relative sensitivity of 73.5% and a high birefringence of 0.013 are achieved at 1.6 THz. The all circular air-hole structure, owing to its simplicity and compatibility with the current fiber draw technique for PCF fabrication, can be realized practically. It is anticipated that the designed fiber can be employed in applications such as detection of biological samples and toxic chemicals, imaging, and spectroscopy.