Tunable photonic band gap fiber

The ability to change the photonic band gap structure continuously and reversibly by modifying the index thermally allows the band gap features to be sensitively tuned, allowing for a thorough investigation of the various band gap guiding properties. Furthermore, it may be possible to use this type of band gap fiber as a tunable filter. Investigations of the dispersion properties of this fiber have been examined recently in our laboratory showing a change in dispersion > 10³ ps/nm km across the band gap region suggesting that controlling the band gap position and width may also provide a sensitive method for tunable dispersion compensation.