title: Integrated polarizers based on tapered highly birefringent photonic crystal fibers.
abstract: This paper proposes and demonstrates the creation of sections with a high polarization dependent loss (PDL) in a commercial highly birefringent (polarization maintaining) photonic crystal fiber (PCF), via tapering with pressure applied to the holes. The tapers had a 1-cm-long uniform section with a 66% scale reduction, in which the original microstructure aspect ratio was kept by the pressure application. The resulting waveguides show polarizing action across the entire tested wavelength range, 1510-1600 nm, with a peak PDL of 35.3 dB/cm (c.f. ~1 dB/cm for a typical commercial polarizing fiber). The resulting structure, as well as its production, is extremely simple, and enable a small section with a high PDL to be obtained in a polarization maintaining PCF, meaning that the polarization axes in the polarizing and polarization maintaining sections are automatically aligned.
authors.forename: Priscila
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Romagnoli
authors.forename: Claudecir R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Biazoli
authors.forename: Marcos A R
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.forename: Cristiano M B
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Cordeiro
authors.forename: Christiano J S
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: de Matos