A vector beam propagation method for microstructured optical fibres

A systematic development of the full vector beam propagation method is presented. The propagation of the vectorial electric fields is governed by two sets of coupled equations for the transverse electric fields. By solving these equations independently using finite difference schemes, we take into account the propagation effects and find the polarization properties. Finally, we apply this tool for the analysis of real microstructured optical fibre (MOFs) with arbitrary index profiles.