DOI: 10.1126/science.285.5433.1537 ISSN:
Single-Mode Photonic Band Gap Guidance of Light in Air
R. F. Cregan, B. J. Mangan, J. C. Knight, T. A. Birks, P. St. J. Russell, P. J. Roberts, D. C. Allan- Multidisciplinary
The confinement of light within a hollow core (a large air hole) in a silica-air photonic crystal fiber is demonstrated. Only certain wavelength bands are confined and guided down the fiber, each band corresponding to the presence of a full two-dimensional band gap in the photonic crystal cladding. Single-mode vacuum waveguides have a multitude of potential applications from ultrahigh-power transmission to the guiding of cold atoms.