AbstractA porous core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) for transmitting terahertz waves is reported and characterized using finite element method. It is shown that by enveloping an octagonal core consisting of only circular air holes in a hexagonal cladding, it is possible to attain low effective material loss that is 73.8% lower than the bulk material absorption loss at 1.0 THz operating frequency. Moreover, a low confinement loss of 7.53×10–5 cm−1 and dispersion profile of 1.0823±0.06 ps/THz/cm within 0.7–1 THz are obtained using carefully selected geometrical design parameters. Other guiding properties such as single-mode operation, bending loss, and effective area are also investigated. The structural design of this porous core PCF is comparatively simple since it contains noncomplex lattices and circular shaped air holes; and therefore, may be implemented using existing fabrication techniques. Due to its auspicious guiding properties, the proposed fiber may be used in single mode terahertz imaging and other short distance terahertz applications.
High birefringence photonic crystal fiber with high nonlinearity and low confinement loss