Thermo-optic characteristics of micro-structured optical fiber infiltrated with mixture liquids

Abstract

We present both theoretically and experimentally the thermo-optic characteristics of micro-structured optical fiber (MOF) filled with mixed liquid. The performance of MOF depends on the efficient interaction between the fundamental mode of the transmitted light wave and the tunable thermo-optic materials in the cladding. The numerical simulation indicates that the confinement loss of MOF presents higher temperature dependence with higher air-filling ratios d/Λ, longer incident wavelength and fewer air holes in the cladding. For the 4cm liquid-filled grapefruit MOF, we demonstrate from experiments that different proportions of solutions lead to tunable temperature sensitive ranges. The insertion loss and the extinction ratio are 3~4 dB and approximate 20 dB, respectively. The proposed liquid-filling MOF will be developed as thermo-optic sensor, attenuator or optical switch with the advantages of simple structure, compact configuration and easy fabrication.