Study on the Microstructure of a Photonic Crystal Fiber using the Elasto-Optical Effect

Photonic crystal fibers are characterized by their periodic structure with dimensions in the nanometer to micrometer range, which gives them the potential to be applied in various technical areas. In this work, we study the microstructure of a hexagonal photonic crystal fiber through a macroscopic localized compression test and measurements of relative intensity changes of a transmitted signal in the photonic crystal fiber. Our experimental study was carried out by controlling the orientation of the localized compression respective to the cross-section microstructure of the photonic crystal fiber. To complete the study, we developed a theoretical model based on the elasto-optic effect, and the numerical solution obtained with the model was compared with the experimental results. With both experimental and theoretical results, we obtained a causal correlation between the loss of relative intensity of the signal traveling through the hexagonal photonic crystal fiber and the orientation (respective to the fiber plane) of a localized compression on photonic crystal fiber. In this way, we can explore the cross-section microstructure of a photonic crystal fiber and its orientation in a device with a macroscopic compression test.