Performance of submillimeter square hollow waveguides.
Propagation losses are determined for 100 microm x 100 microm square, hollow waveguides constructed from glass capillaries. The small size makes it possible to observe optical effects not easily seen with larger waveguides. The depletion of higher-order even modes creates a large, nonlinear loss. Over a distance of a meter the loss approaches the smaller, linear value expected for the fundamental mode. Additionally, the lowest two even modes beat to produce an oscillatory loss with a period of approximately 2 cm. Making the focal radius 0.35 the waveguide width minimizes these two effects. In a related study, 50-microm waveguides embossed in polydimethylsiloxane are shown to have losses similar to glass capillaries.
Lytle
Fred E
FE
Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-1393, USA. lytle@chem.purdue.edu
Splawn
Bryan G
BG
D008962:Models, Theoretical; D055095:Optics and Photonics