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Management of residual dispersion of an optical transmission system using

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DOI: 10.1117/1.OE.55.4.047107

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Management of residual dispersion of
an optical transmission system using
octagonal photonic crystal fiber

Russel Reza Mahmud

Muhammad Abdul Goffar Khan
S. M. Abdur Razzak

Russel Reza Mahmud, Muhammad Abdul Goffar Khan, S. M. Abdur Razzak, “Management of residual
dispersion of an optical transmission system using octagonal photonic crystal fiber,” Opt. Eng.
55(4), 047107 (2016), doi: 10.1117/1.OE.55.4.047107.
Optical Engineering 55(4), 047107 (April 2016)

Management of residual dispersion of an optical

transmission system using octagonal photonic
crystal fiber
Russel Reza Mahmud,a,b,* Muhammad Abdul Goffar Khan,a and S. M. Abdur Razzaka
a
Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Rajshahi-6204, Bangladesh
b
Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh

Abstract. An octagonal photonic crystal fiber (O-PCF) for numerical structure design and analysis of some
particular properties are presented in this paper. The proposed design is suitable for residual dispersion com-
pensation (RDC) with polarization maintaining (PM) applications as it offers extremely high-negative flattened
average chromatic dispersion (D T ) and absolute dispersion variation (ΔD) of around −ð708  10Þ ps nm−1 km−1
and average high birefringence (B) of the order 10−2 for the wavelength limits of 1.46 to 1.67 μm (bandwidth of
210 nm that covers S þ C þ L þ U bands in the infrared region of the optical third window). In addition, it exhibits
very low confinement loss of 10−3.5 to 10−2.5 dB∕m for that bandwidth. Moreover, to evaluate the sensitivity of the
fiber properties (D T and B) during fabrication, 0.02 μm variation in the optimum parameters is also studied.
© 2016 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) [DOI: 10.1117/1.OE.55.4.047107]

Keywords: octagonal photonic crystal fiber; extremely high negative flattened dispersion; high birefringence; residual dispersion and
polarization maintaining residual dispersion compensation.
Paper 151805 received Dec. 21, 2015; accepted for publication Mar. 31, 2016; published online Apr. 25, 2016.

1 Introduction Therefore, it requires additional DC done by a residual

Depending on the total internal reflection mechanism, with
the attractive features and properties for different applica-
tions of interest, many publications have been reported by
photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) or microstructured optical
fibers (MOFs), such as inevitable single-mode operation,
wide band dispersion flattened characteristics near zero or
high negative level, high birefringence (B), high nonlinear
coefficient (γ), very high negative peak with negative slop-
ping dispersion, low confinement loss (LC ), effective mode
area (Aeff ) to a very large scale, and low bending loss.1–4
Among the declared features and properties of PCFs or
MOFs, negative flattened dispersion (NFDT ) with high
birefringence is one of the most weighty characteristics
for a particular application of polarization maintaining
residual dispersion compensation (PM-RDC).5,6 However,
the conventional optical fiber of single mode used in long
transmission system gives positive dispersion (DT ) of 12
to 22 ps nm−1 km−1 .2 Finally, this positive value of DT
aggravates to a high peak positive margin when the optical
signal propagates over a longer distance through that SMF.
This dispersion hereinafter referred to as DT makes degrada-
tion in the optical pulse signal in the fiber-based network for
the multiplexing wavelength division. To maintain the qual-
ity of an optical signal of SMF, DT should be managed.
Signal dispersion can be avoided using such types of
PCFs which will provide almost zero flattened dispersion
for the function of wavelength.2 In addition, dispersion com-
pensation (DC) technique can be used to nullify the positive
DT . But after this DC, residual dispersion still remains.
*Address all correspondence to: Russel Reza Mahmud, E-mail: r.r.mahmud@
gmail.com
dispersion compensation fiber (RDCF) providing large
NFDT to abate the extra-positive residual dispersion of that
SMF in a fiber optical network.7 To minimize cost and
loss, an RDCF should have the property of NFDT to a large
extent.
Bearing this in mind, for the past few years, several PCFs on
NFDT have been proposed in studies by many researchers.
Among them, Silva et al.8,9 demonstrated rectangular structures
with extra-addition of Ge-doped core PCF to obtain NFDT of
−203 and −212 ps nm−1 km−1 over E to U bands. The actual
difficulties of Refs. 8 and 9 are fabrication accuracy of their
reported designs since those are additional Ge-doped core struc-
tures at the central core area. Additionally, Habib et al.7,10
reported hybrid hexagonal and hybrid octagonal (O) PCFs
that demonstrate NFDT of a very lower value of −138 ðΔD ¼
12Þ ps nm−1 km−1 within 0.98 to 1.58 μm wavelength and
a high value of −465.5 ðΔD ¼ 10.5Þ ps nm−1 km−1 over the
bandwidth of 1.46 to 1.67 μm. The hybrid structures of
Refs. 7 and 10 are also difficult to fabricate through the conven-
tional individual stackable unit. Moreover, two conventional
PCFs in hexagonal structures are proposed by Franco et al.11
and Tee et al.12 with NFDT of a very low value −179 ðΔD ¼
2.1Þ ps nm−1 km−1 between 1.48 to 1.675 μm and a high
value −456 ðΔD ¼ 12Þ ps nm−1 km−1 for 1.36 to 1.69 μm
wavelength bands. But the main problem of Refs. 11 and 12
is itself the structural complexity since one hexagonal PCF
with very small circular air holes is designed into another
hexagonal PCF structure in a single design. In addition, away
from the popular hexagonal pattern, an equiangular spiral (ES)
PCF13,14 defined average low NFDT of −227 (ΔD ¼ 11.9)
and −393 (ΔD ¼ 12) ps nm−1 km−1 covering E to U bands,
0091-3286/2016/$25.00 © 2016 SPIE

Optical Engineering 047107-1 April 2016 • Vol. 55(4)

 Mahmud, Khan, and Razzak: Management of residual dispersion of an optical transmission system. . .
respectively. Therefore, the designs13,14 become complicated to
fabricate as they are based on the structure of ES. Recently,
Habib et al.6 have explored a new decagonal structured PCF
in hybrid pattern with high NFDT of −558.96 (ΔD ¼ 9.7)
ps nm−1 km−1 within the bandwidth limits of 1.46 to 1.7 μm.
The fabrication process for the proposed design6 becomes
difficult with full performance since the structure is hybrid
with some circular and elliptical air holes near the central
core. In addition, Hasan et al.5,15 designed elliptical core
octagonal (O) PCF that ensured average NFDT of −546 and
−562.5 ps nm−1 km−1 with ΔD of 12 and 12.1psnm−1 km−1
covering S þ C þ L and S þ C þ L þ U bands. But the
designs are not purely octagonal in structure which make
the designs complex to fabricate at the central core region
with specified dimension and position. Very recently, Xuyou
Li et al.16 demonstrated a pentagonal PCF of average NFDT
of −611.9 ps nm−1 km−1 with ΔD of 12.2 ps nm−1 km−1 cov-
ering only O þ C þ L bands. The main drawback of the
proposed16 design is the pentagonal structure which is also
complicated to fabricate with the accurate positions of air
holes. An ES-MOF based on decagonal pattern made of soft
glass SF5717 with intentionally modified core is proposed and
that confirms average NFDT of −453 ps nm−1 km−1 with ΔD
of 14 ps nm−1 km−1 within the wide bandwidth limits of 1.15
to 1.75 μm. It is well known that the property of NFDT is
used for DC as well as RDC. In addition to maintaining
polarization in application field, the property of high birefrin-
gent is essential. So, the fiber (having these dual properties
such as negative flattened dispersion and high birefringence)
is suitable for broadband RDC with maintaining polarization
application.5,7,6,17
That is why, in this paper, we propose a simple octagonal
(O) PCF design that offers extremely high NFDT and
dispersion variation (ΔD) of −ð708  10Þ ps nm−1 km−1
and a high birefringence of 0.0234 to 0.0222 for the wave-
length of 1.46 to 1.67 μm (bandwidth of 210 nm). This
bandwidth covers S þ C þ L þ U bands in the infrared (IF)
region for the optical third window. The advantages of our
proposed structure are the design simplicity, simultaneously
very high negative flattened dispersion, high birefringence,
and very low confinement loss. These properties are very
crucial for the application as a PM-RDCF in long-haul opti-
cal data transmission network.
Fig. 1 Geometry of the proposed O-PM-RDCF structure: (a) cross-sectional view in transversal mode
with ring numbers and (b) illustration of the geometrical dimension with optimized structural parameters.
Optical Engineering
2 Structure and Design of O-PM-RDCF
It goes without saying that an octagonal (O) structure is the
best arrangement of air holes to reduce the confinement loss
and to give better DT property.5,7,15,18 For this reason, we
propose a simple octagonal structure with some circular
air holes. Due to having many advantages (i.e., available,
affordable, very good stability for crystallization and ther-
mally), silica is the only host material of the proposed O-
PM-RDCF.7 Figure 1 shows the geometry of the proposed
O-PM-RDCF structure having some circular shape of air
holes. To achieve high birefringence, the area of the core
is intentionally modified. The O-PM-RDCF has five rings
that are shown in Fig. 1(a). The number of total air holes
for ring 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 is 6, 16, 24, 32, and 40, respectively,
for the proposed O-PM-RDCF design. Spacing between the
centers of any two air holes is called pitch (Λ). Two pitches
are required for designing an octagonal pattern. Here, Λ1 is
the air holes’ pitch between different rings and Λ2 is the air
holes’ pitch in the same ring. Λ1 is the only independent
degree of freedom for the O-PM-RDCF design. All other
degrees of freedom of parameters are related to and depen-
dent on this variable (Λ1 ). The relation between Λ1 and Λ2 is
Λ2 ¼ 0.42 × Λ1 . The angular displacement of any two adja-
cent air holes is 45° as the proposed O-PM-RDCF is an
octagonal pattern. Two air holes in the first ring along the
Y-axis are intentionally omitted near the central core region,
those are represented as dotted circles in Fig. 1(b). Circular
air holes’ diameters (r1 and r2 ) are used only for the pro-
posed O-PM-RDCF design. The diameters of the air holes
of the second ring are denoted as r2 and those of the rest
are r1 . In Fig. 1, for the optimization process, there are
four variables (Λ1 , Λ2 , r1 , and r2 ) which are used for the
degrees of freedom. We change one parameter at a time
while the rest of the parameters are kept constant to observe
the influence of an individual parameter for the property of
dispersion. Thus, the four parameters are observed and
adjusted separately for obtaining optimization. Finally, we
choose the distances of pitches Λ1 ¼ 0.66 μm and Λ2 ¼
0.42 × Λ1 μm, and the diameters of the air holes are
r1 ¼ 0.87 × Λ2 μm and r2 ¼ 0.90 × Λ2 μm for optimiza-
tion. Therefore, the proposed O-PM-RDCF has only two
types of air hole diameters in a circular pattern that makes
the design easy in the period of fabrication.
047107-2 April 2016 • Vol. 55(4)
 Mahmud, Khan, and Razzak: Management of residual dispersion of an optical transmission system. . .

3 Equations, Results of Simulation, and Dm ðλÞ ¼ −ðλ∕CÞ½ðd2 ηÞ∕dλ2 ;

EQ-TARGET;temp:intralink-;e003;326;752 (3)
Discussions
To calculate the guiding properties of the designed O-PM- DT ¼ Dw ðλÞ þ Dm ðλÞ: (4)
RDCF, finite-element method (FEM)15 based COMSOL
EQ-TARGET;temp:intralink-;e004;326;731

software is used which is commercially available. To obtain

leakage loss or confinement loss, a circular perfectly
matched boundary layer is used, where no reflection is pro-
duced. The modal properties of the proposed O-PM-RDCF
are investigated by 4563 triangular vector edge elements and
39.9 μm2 mesh area through the full vector FEM-based
COMSOL software. The effective refractive index ηeff to
the almost appropriate value can be calculated directly
from simulation by Maxwell’s equation through the FEM.
After getting the value of ηeff , the waveguide dispersion
Dw ðλÞ of the O-PM-RDCF can be calculated by Eq. (1)
where C is the velocity of light in vacuum, λ is the wave-
length, and Re½ηeff  is the real part of effective refractive
index. Dispersion (DT ), which makes the spectral component
of an optical signal separated, is defined as the change
in pulse width per unit distance of propagation (i.e.,
ps nm−1 km−1 ).
Dðλw Þ ¼ −ðλ∕CÞ½ðd2 Re½ηeff Þ∕dλ2 :
EQ-TARGET;temp:intralink-;e001;63;518
B1 , B2 , B3 , C1 , C2 , and C3 are the Sellmeier constants of
the Sellmeier equation. The refractive index of the SiO2 can
be obtained by the Sellmeier Eq. (2), where B1 ¼ 0.6961663,
B2 ¼ 0.4079426, B3 ¼ 0.8974794, C1 ¼ 0.004679148,
C2 ¼ 0.01351206307, and C3 ¼ 97.93400254. After getting
the values of η for SiO2 from Eq. (2), material dispersion
Dm ðλÞ can be calculated by Eq. (3). Total dispersion (DT )
is the summation of waveguide dispersion and material
The effective area Aeff is measured in μm2 , it is defined by
applying the value of the electric field in Maxwell’s equa-
tion. Aeff is the area where the light intensity of the beam
drops to 13.5% of its maximum value. Moreover, broken
symmetry of a fiber affects the property of birefringence
(B) where, ηXeff and ηYeff are the mode indices of the two
orthogonal X-Y polarization axes. Birefringence is repre-
sented as B and can be obtained by subtracting the values
of ηXeff and ηYeff following Eq. (5). Confinement loss (LC ),
also called leakage loss, is the loss of leakage modes and
is presented hereinafter in dB∕m. In Eq. (6), the free
space wave number is K O ¼ 2π∕λ and in Eq. (8), the
Kerr constant is η2 . Nonlinear coefficient (γ) is represented
in the unit of W−1 km−1 and is calculated by Eq. (8). Once
computing simulation of the proposed O-PM-RDCF design,
the modal effective refractive index (ηeff ) with real and
imaginary parts can be obtained. Dispersion (DT ), birefrin-
(1) gence (B), confinement loss (LC ), effective area (Aeff ), and
nonlinear coefficient (γ) can be calculated by the equations
mentioned.19,20
B ¼ jReðηXeff Þ − ReðηYeff Þj;
EQ-TARGET;temp:intralink-;e005;326;485 (5)
LC ¼ 8.686 × kO Im½ηeff ;
EQ-TARGET;temp:intralink-;e006;326;450 (6)
Z Z 2 .
∞ ∞
EQ-TARGET;temp:intralink-;e007;326;421

dispersion by applying Eq. (4).

Aeff ðλÞ ¼ ðjEðx; yÞj2 Þdxdy
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi −∞ −∞
Z Z
B λ2 B λ2 B λ2 ∞ ∞
ηðλÞ ¼ 1 þ 2 1 þ 2 2 þ 2 3 ; (2) × ðjEðx; yÞj4 dxdyÞ; (7)
λ − C1 λ − C2 λ − C3
EQ-TARGET;temp:intralink-;e002;63;388

−∞ −∞

Fig. 2 Field distributions of the fundamental modes at 1.55 μm wavelength for the proposed O-PM-
RDCF design: (a) X -polarization mode and (b) Y -polarization mode.

Optical Engineering 047107-3 April 2016 • Vol. 55(4)

 Mahmud, Khan, and Razzak: Management of residual dispersion of an optical transmission system. . .

  
2π η2 Comparison of our proposed O-PM-RDCF design with
γ¼ : (8) different proposed structures in references reported by
λ
EQ-TARGET;temp:intralink-;e008;63;752

Aeff
researchers5,7,12,6,14–17 are shown in Fig. 4, showing chro-
The fundamental polarizations of orthogonal X and Y matic dispersion and wavelengths along Y and X axes,
modes are shown in Fig. 2 to observe the optical field dis- respectively. Chromatic dispersion which is less than
tributions at the wavelength of 1.55 μm. The effective refrac- −300 ps nm−1 km−1 is not considered for comparison in
tive index of the core is higher than the cladding for our Fig. 4 due to very lower NFDT than the proposed O-PM-
proposed O-PM-RDCF design. As a result, the lights are RDCF design. Interplay between the material dispersion
strongly confined to the central core region for orthogonal and the waveguide effects upon the dispersion dominate the
modes of X and Y polarizations. Intentionally removing chromatic dispersion property. Depending on the values of
two air holes in vertically up and down positions along the diameters of the circular air holes and the distance of
the Y-axis near the core provides the difference between pitches, the waveguide nature dominates resulting in a fluc-
two effective refractive indices of X (ηXeff ) and Y (ηYeff ) polar- tuation of the DT property when the bandwidth of DT of the
ized modes. It is found from the result of simulation that reported structure in references is significantly wide.21 The
ηeff of orthogonal X and Y polarized modes decrease with results of simulation confirm that the proposed O-PM-RDCF
increase in λ. The refractive index of X-polarized fundamen- design has a higher amplitude of negative flattened
tal mode is greater than the Y-polarized mode because of dispersion than those of all previously reported designs in
unequal distribution of air holes in the first ring near the Refs. 5–17.
central core and the difference provides high B. It goes without saying that 0.01 μm changed in struc-
Usually a perfect RDCF should have very high NFDT tural parameters may happen during fabrication.12 Therefore,
characteristics for the function of the wavelength bands. to confirm the stability of flatness in the property of DT , the
It is observed from Fig. 3 that for the bands of effects of 0.01 and 0.02 μm variation from the optimiz-
S þ C þ L þ U in IF for telecom third window, the DT of ing values are also studied numerically for the mode of
the mode of Y-polarization gives very high NFDT of −698 Y-polarization. The tolerance of the properties has been ana-
to −718 ps nm−1 km−1 with ΔD of 10 ps nm−1 km−1 within lyzed carefully by changing one parameter once all other
the bandwidth limits of 1.46 to 1.67 μm which is shown in the parameters remain constant. The sensitivity analysis of
inside figure. The magnitude of chromatic dispersion for our DT due to the variation of Λ1 up to 0.02 μm is given in
proposed design achieves the highest average flattened nega- Fig. 5. It is observed that DT changes 20 to 40 and
tive peak of all previously reported designs.5–17 Here for 5 to 10 ps nm−1 km−1 at the edge of 1.46 and
getting large NFDT , the optimum values of parameters 1.67 μm, respectively, wavelengths when the variation of
(OVP) are chosen to have such numerical values of which Λ1 occurred at 0.01 to 0.02 μm. As a result, the variation
only one is an independent variable (pitch of any two air of Λ1 , the change of DT at 1.46 μm is higher than what it is at
holes on different rings, Λ1 ¼ 0.66 μm) and the rest are de- 1.67 μm. In addition, Fig. 6 reports that DT changes 22 to
pendent variables (i.e., pitch of any two air holes on the same 44 and 40 to 80 ps nm−1 km−1 at the edge of 1.46 and
ring, Λ2 ¼ 0.42 × Λ1 μm; diameters of air holes of the second 1.67 μm wavelengths when the value of Λ2 is varied at
ring, r2 ¼ 0.90 × Λ2 μm; and those of the rest of the rings, 0.01 to 0.02 μm. So it is observed that the variation
r1 ¼ 0.87 × Λ2 μm). The value of r2 is higher than r1 . It of Λ2 creates more effects than Λ1 . Figure 7 shows the
is noted that the proposed O-PM-RDCF design has only changes of the diameters of r1 air holes in the first and
four variables including two pitches and two diameters of third to fifth rings at ð0.01 to 0.02Þ μm when all other
air holes into the whole structure which is helpful for parameters are fixed at optimum level. In that figure, DT
fabrication. changes 15 to 30 and 5 to 10 ps nm−1 km−1 at the
edge of 1.46 and 1.67 μm wavelengths when r1 varies

0
-690 0
Proposed O-PM-RDCF
-100 -695
Referance [7]
-700 -100 Referance [12]
Dispersion ( ps.nm -1.km-1)

-200 Referance [14]

-705
Dispersion ( ps.nm -1.km-1)

Referance [5]
-200 Referance [6]
-710
-300 Referance [15]
-715 Referance [16]
-300 Referance [17]
-400 -720
-725 -400
-500 1.5 1.55 1.6 1.65

Y-Polarization with optimum parameters -500

-600 = 0.66 m, = (0.42 x ) m
1 2 1
r = (0.87 x ) m, r = (0.9 x ) m
1 2 2 2
-700 -600

-800 -700
1.46 1.48 1.5 1.52 1.54 1.56 1.58 1.6 1.62 1.64 1.66
Wavelength ( m) 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8
Wavelength (µm)
Fig. 3 Chromatic dispersion for negative flattened level over
S þ C þ L þ U wavelength bands for the optimum parameters: Fig. 4 Comparison of chromatic dispersion properties with flatness of
Λ1 ¼ 0.66 μm, Λ2 ∕Λ1 ¼ 0.42 μm, r 1 ∕Λ2 ¼ 0.87 μm, and r 2 ∕Λ2 ¼ the proposed O-PM-RDCF with some recent reported results of the
0.90 μm for the proposed O-PM-RDCF. references.

Optical Engineering 047107-4 April 2016 • Vol. 55(4)

 Mahmud, Khan, and Razzak: Management of residual dispersion of an optical transmission system. . .

-500 -500

Optimum ( = 0.66 m) Optimum (r / = 0.87 m)

-550 1 -550 1 2
+0.01 m ( = 0.67 m)

Dispersion ( ps.nm -1.km-1)

Dispersion ( ps.nm -1.km-1)

1 +0.01 m (r / = 0.88 m)
1 2
-0.01 m ( = 0.65 m) +0.02 m (r / = 0.89 m)
1
-600 -600 1 2
+0.02 m ( = 0.68 m) -0.01 m (r / = 0.86 m)
1
1 2
-0.02 m ( = 0.64 m) -0.02 m (r / = 0.85 m)
1
1 2
-650 -650

-700 -700

-750 -750

-800 -800
1.46 1.48 1.5 1.52 1.54 1.56 1.58 1.6 1.62 1.64 1.66 1.46 1.48 1.5 1.52 1.54 1.56 1.58 1.6 1.62 1.64 1.66
Wavelength ( m) Wavelength ( m)

Fig. 5 The responses of dispersion for the function of wavelength at
the variation of Λ1 from ð0.01 to 0.02Þ μm when all other parameters
Λ2 , r 1 , and r 2 are kept fixed to optimum level. (Solid lines without and
with symbols represent OVP and increment of Λ1 . In addition, with
symbols, dashed lines represent Λ1 ).
Fig. 7 The responses of dispersion for the function of wavelength for
changing first ring air holes’ diameters r 1 when Λ1 , Λ2 , and r 2 remain
constant. (Without symbols solid line unfolds OVP. Furthermore, with
symbols other solid lines explore increment while dashed line is for
decrement of r 1 ).

-500 -500

Optimum ( / = 0.42 m)
2 1
-550 +0.01 m ( / = 0.43 m) -550
2 1 Optimum (r / = 0.90 m)
Dispersion ( ps.nm -1.km-1)
Dispersion ( ps.nm -1 .km-1 )

2 2
-0.01 m ( / = 0.41 m)
2 1 +0.01 m (r / = 0.91 m)
2 2
-600 +0.02 m ( / = 0.44 m) -600 +0.02 m (r / = 0.92 m)
2 1
2 2
-0.02 m ( / = 0.40 m) -0.01 m (r / = 0.89 m)
2 1 2 2

-650 -650 -0.02 m (r / = 0.88 m)

2 2

-700 -700

-750 -750

-800 -800
1.46 1.48 1.5 1.52 1.54 1.56 1.58 1.6 1.62 1.64 1.66 1.46 1.48 1.5 1.52 1.54 1.56 1.58 1.6 1.62 1.64 1.66
Wavelength ( m) Wavelength ( m)

Fig. 6 The responses of dispersion for the function of wavelength for
variation of Λ2 from ð0.01 to 0.02Þ μm when Λ1 , r 1 , and r 2 stay con-
stant to OVP. (Without symbols solid line explicit OVP. In addition,
with symbols, solid, and dashed lines depict increment and decrement
of Λ2 , respectively).
Fig. 8 The responses of dispersion for the function of wavelength for
changing only r 2 diameters of air holes’ in the second ring when other
parameters Λ1 , Λ2 , and r 1 are fixed at optimum level. (Solid line with-
out and with symbols unfold OVP and increment, respectively, while
dashed lines are for decrement of r 2 ).

from 0.01 to 0.02 μm. Moreover, diameter variation the optimum parameters of the proposed O-PM-RDCF
of the air holes (r2 ) in the rest of the rings is given in design. Figure 9 also indicates the nonlinear coefficient
Fig. 8 when r1 , Λ1 , and Λ2 are constant. Figure 8 also (γ) of 97 to 72 W−1 km−1 for the bandwidth of 1.46 to
shows that DT changes from 3 to 6 and 10 to 1.67 μm. The high γ is one of the possible disadvantages
20 ps nm−1 km−1 at the edge of 1.46 and 1.67 μm wave- for our proposed O-PM-RDCF. On the contrary, this high
length when r2 varies from 0.01 to 0.02 μm. In all the γ is very suitable for DC as well as RDC where four-
cases, variation of air holes’ diameters causes more effects wave mixing is prone to appear.15 In addition, high nonlinear
for 0.02 μm than 0.01 μm. Therefore, the variations of and high birefringence properties with near zero flattened
all parameters maintain the NFDT characteristic which is dispersion between wavelength bands are the main issues
essential to satisfy the fabrication tolerance. It has been for supercontinuum generation. Figure 10 conveys the
proven by some reports that the difference in dimensions responses of birefringence (B) at ð0.01 to 0.02Þ μm varia-
of the air holes in the outer ring has an insignificant effect tion for all the degrees of freedom (r1 , r2 , Λ1 , and Λ2 ) of the
on DT characteristics.20 proposed O-PM-RDCF design with respect to the wave-
The proposed O-PM-RDCF reports better birefringence length bands where we consider only the mode of Y-polari-
property compared to the conventional SMF. According to zation. It is also noticed that B changes to a small degree for
Fig. 9, it is clearly seen that high birefringence of the variation of Λ1 up to 0.02 μm from the previous opti-
2.34 × 10−2 to 2.22 × 10−2 (at the order of 10−2 ) can be mum value, whereas with variation of Λ2 up to 0.02 μm,
evaluated within the bandwidth from 1.46 to 1.67 μm for birefringence changes significantly 0.01. Again, B is

Optical Engineering 047107-5 April 2016 • Vol. 55(4)

 Mahmud, Khan, and Razzak: Management of residual dispersion of an optical transmission system. . .

100 0.0235 -2
10
Nonlinear coefficient (W -1km-1)
Y polarization mode with optimum parameters
X polarization mode with optimum parameters
90 0.023

Confinement loss (dB / m)

Birefringence
-3
10
80 0.0225

70 0.022
-4
10
Nonlinear coefficient for the optimum values of parameters
Birefringence for the optimum values of parameters
60 0.0215
1.46 1.48 1.5 1.52 1.54 1.56 1.58 1.6 1.62 1.64 1.66
Wavelength ( m)
-5
Fig. 9 The responses of birefringence and nonlinear coefficient for 10
1.46 1.48 1.5 1.52 1.54 1.56 1.58 1.6 1.62 1.64 1.66
the function of wavelength at OVP to Y -polarized mode. (Dashed Wavelength ( m)
line represents nonlinear coefficient and solid line reports birefringent
properties). Fig. 11 The responses of confinement loss for the function of wave-
length with optimum parameters for the O-PM-RDCF design.
0.05
Optimum ( 1
= 0.66 m, 2
/ 1
= 0.42 m, r 1 / 2
= 0.87 m, r2 / 2
= 0.90 m) We have numerically investigated the performance of
0.045
+ 0.02 m ( r1 / 2
= 0.89 m) mode test for the proposed O-PM-RDCF design. During
- 0.02 m (r1 / = 0.85 m)
2 mode analysis, the proposed O-PM-RDCF supports a
+ 0.02 m ( r2 / = 0.92 m)
0.04 - 0.02 m (r2 /
2
= 0.88 m)
stronger fundamental mode than the second mode. The
2
LC of the second mode is higher than 46 dB∕m at
Birefringence

+ 0.02 m ( 1
= 0.68 m)
0.035 - 0.02 m ( 1
= 0.64 m 1.55 μm wavelength in the telecom third window. Addition
+ 0.02 m ( 2
/ 1
= 0.44 to confinement loss of the second mode is 889 times as
- 0.02 m ( / = 0.40 m)
0.03 2 1 great as that of the fundamental mode. So, it successfully
performs as a single-mode fiber.18 In addition, the value
0.025 of V eff is calculated by the equation V eff ¼ ðk0 Λf 1∕2 Þ
ðn2co − n2a Þ1∕2 where refractive indices of core and air
0.02
holes are nco and na , respectively. Air filling fraction (f)
which is defined as f ¼ Ahole ∕Acell . Here, the area of
0.015
1.46 1.48 1.5 1.52 1.54 1.56 1.58 1.6 1.62 1.64 1.66 holes and PCF are Ahole and Acell , respectively. For the
Wavelength ( m) above equation of the V eff , the free space wave number is
K O ¼ 2π∕λ. Figure 12 shows that the proposed O-PM-
Fig. 10 The responses of birefringence for the function of wavelength RDCF will perform like a single-mode fiber for the wave-
for changing one parameter at a time when all other parameters are
kept constant. The changes of Λ1 , Λ2 , r 1 , and r 2 up to 0.02 μm for length range of 1.46 to 1.67 μm because of V eff being less
the O-PM-RDCF. (Without symbols solid line for OVP, with symbols than 2.4 within the entire wavelength boundary.
solid lines are for increment whereas dashed is for decrement). From the simulation, effective area (Aeff ) is found 1.0 to
1.3 μm2 within the bandwidth limits from 1.46 to 1.67 μm
for the mode of Y-polarization. Aeff accelerates with increas-
changed at 0.0016 and 0.0003 for the variation of air ing λ. Splice loss is generally high for the proposed O-PM-
holes’ diameters of r1 and r2 , respectively, at 0.02 μm RDCF due to the smaller effective area. Xiao et al.22
from its optimum level. It is observed that the variation of
r1 diameters creates more effects than that of r2 on the 2.4
behavior of birefringence.
Finally, it is worth pointing out that despite having only 2.3 V
eff
at 1.550 m = 2.05832

five rings with some circular air holes in the fiber cladding
region, the proposed O-PM-RDCF design provides birefrin- 2.2
gence with a magnitude of the order of 10−2 for the variation
of both air holes’ diameters and pitches. So, the proposed 2.1
eff

O-PM-RDCF follows desired B and DT characteristics and

V

2
thus satisfies the fabrication tolerance.
A perfect RDCF should have low confinement loss (LC )
1.9
as a function of wavelengths. Figure 11 shows the wave-
length response of LC for Y-polarization. Confinement 1.8
loss at a magnitude of 10−3.5 to 10−2.5 dB∕m for Y-polari-
zation and 10−4.5 to 10−3.5 dB∕m for X-polarization 1.7
1.46 1.48 1.5 1.52 1.54 1.56 1.58 1.6 1.62 1.64 1.66
modes are found for the wavelength range of 1.46 to
Wavelength ( m)
1.67 μm. It is well known that the addition of one more
ring at the outer cladding region can reduce LC even without Fig. 12 Wavelength dependence of V eff parameter value for single
affecting DT and B properties.18 mode test of the proposed O-PM-RDCF.

Optical Engineering 047107-6 April 2016 • Vol. 55(4)

 Mahmud, Khan, and Razzak: Management of residual dispersion of an optical transmission system. . .
proposed fusion splicing that can reduce splice loss.
Recently, Saval et al.19 proposed a splice-free interconnec-
tion technique to minimize splice loss. Therefore, using
this method with low splicing loss, a single mode of conven-
tional optical fiber can be coupled with a PCF.
Now, the only point left is the fabrication issue for the
proposed O-PM-RDCF. The proposed design can be fabri-
cated using individual stackable units of suitable shapes
and sizes due to being a simple octagonal structure with
only five rings.15,23 In addition, any complex structure can
be fabricated by adopting a conventional stack-and-draw
technique which has been examined theoretically and
experimentally by Suzuki.24 Alternatively, another technique
is called sol-gel method which can be used providing there
is flexibility to fabricate the proposed O-PM-RDCF. Using
this method various irregular structures of PCFs have already
been fabricated.14,25,26
4 Conclusions
In this paper, a simple octagonal PCF design has been pro-
posed offering very high negative flattened dispersion with
dispersion variation of −ð708  10Þ ps nm−1 km−1 and high
birefringence of 2.34 × 10−2 to 2.22 × 10−2 for the wave-
length range of 1.46 to 1.67 μm covering S þ C þ L þ U
bands in the IF region for the optical third window. In addi-
tion, it has reported very low confinement loss of the order
10−3 dB∕m for that bandwidth. As a result of the appearing
properties, the proposed O-PM-RDCF can be applied as a
fiber very effectively for RDC with polarization maintaining
application in long haul high-speed data transmission optical
network.
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Russel Reza Mahmud completed his BSc in EEE from the Islamic
University of Technology in 2003 and his MSc in EEE from
Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET) in 2010.
Currently, he is a PhD student in the Department of EEE at RUET,
Rajshahi, and also is an assistant professor in the Department of
EEE at Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST),
Bangladesh. His current research interests include photonics and
photonic crystal fiber.
Muhammad Abdul Goffar Khan completed his BSc in EEE from
Engineering College Rajshahi (ECR), his MSc in EEE from
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET),
and his PhD in EEE from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.
Currently, he is a professor in the Department of EEE at RUET,
Bangladesh. His field of research includes PCFs and high voltage
engineering.
S. M. Abdur Razzak completed his BSc in EEE from RUET, Rajshahi,
Bangladesh, in 1998 and his MEng and PhD degrees in EEE from
the University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan, in 2007 and 2010,
respectively. He is currently a professor in the EEE department at
RUET. He is a senior member of IEEE and Fellow of Institution of
Engineers, Bangladesh. He is an adviser of IEEE COMSOC
Bangladesh, IEEE WIE and IEEE—RUET student branch.
April 2016 • Vol. 55(4)