Structural and wavelength dependence of mode power distribution for a broadband dispersion compensating microstructured fiber

Abstract Approximate empirical analysis of mode power distribution (MPD) carried by the fundamental mode is newly investigated based on a broadband dispersion compensating microstructured fiber (MF). The fraction of modal power in the core region, η , is defined with the help of extending the applicability of well-established classical optical fiber theories to MFs. In doing so, the influences of structural parameters and wavelength on MPD characteristics of the fundamental mode are systematically analyzed in detail based on simple physically consistent concepts of conventional fibers. As a result, it is shown that for the optimum MF design in Ref. [11] as a multimode fiber, when the number of guiding modes increases, the mode power ratio of the fundamental mode constantly increases from 69.4%; in addition, we find that as wavelength increases within 1.2–1.6 μm, mode power confinement ability of the fundamental mode is lessened for single-mode propagation, whereas for multimode propagation it becomes enhanced.