Light confinement within nanoholes in nanostructured optical fibers

Abstract

We report fabrication of the lead silicate microstructured fibers (MOFs) with core holes as small as 20 nm, the smallest holes fabricated within the core of an optical fiber to date. We show that light confinement and average mode intensity within such holes are strongly dependent on the hole size. Light confinement within 80 nm and 250 nm core hole within the fabricated MOFs has been experimentally characterized using Scanning Near-field Optical Microscopy (SNOM).