Photonic Crystal Fibers - Broadband, Single-Mode, Polarization-Maintaining

01 Jun 2023

A new product family of broadband Photonic Crystal Fibers (PCFs) is launched by Schäfter+Kirchhoff. PCFs outperform conventional step-index fibers due to their enormous bandwidth and large mode field diameter, especially for high-power applications in the short wavelength range.

The new broadband fibers cover a wavelength range from approximately 370 nm to 1200 nm. In this range, the PCFs are endlessly single-mode, whereas standard fibers are only single-mode in a very limited range.

Since the mode field diameter is almost independent of the wavelength, the effective numerical aperture is wavelength dependent. Therefore, Schäfter+Kirchhoff measures the effective numerical aperture at different wavelengths for each manufactured fiber and provides the results to the customer.

In all of Schäfter+Kirchhoff's PCF fiber optic cables, the low-stress fiber connectors are equipped with so-called end caps. This is a piece of coreless fiber (< 300 µm) spliced onto the PCF, sealing the fiber microstructure. This reduces the power density at the end-face of the fiber, which in turn reduces solarization effects at the fiber ends at higher laser powers.

The PCFs are available with core diameters of 5 µm or 10 µm. They are available as single-mode (PCF-S series) or polarization-maintaining (PCF-P series). All fibers are characterized by an approximately Gaussian beam profile. The fiber cables are available with a Ø 900 µm buffer or as a Ø 3 mm cable with Kevlar strain relief.

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