Bending analysis of a dual-core photonic crystal fiber

Abstract

A dual-core photonic crystal fiber (DC-PCF) is proposed, and bending characteristics of the DC-PCF are investigated. Two fiber cores are employed in the cross-section of the DC-PCF, which result in a mode coupling between the two fiber cores when the light propagates inside the DC-PCF. The mode coupling between two fiber cores of the DC-PCF is sensitive to the directional bending of the DC-PCF which essentially provides a method to achieve bending sensing. A DC-PCF-based bending sensor is proposed by injecting a broadband light into one fiber core of the DC-PCF on one side and detecting output spectrum from another fiber core of the DC-PCF on the other side. In our simulations, a parabola curve which shows the relationship between the wavelength shift of the transmission spectrum of the DC- PCF-based bending sensor and the bending curvature of the DC-PCF is presented.