Dual-core antiresonant hollow core fibers.

In this work, dual-core antiresonant hollow core fibers (AR-HCFs) are numerically demonstrated, based on our knowledge, for the first time. Two fiber structures are proposed. One is a composite of two single-core nested nodeless AR-HCFs, exhibiting low confinement loss and a circular mode profile in each core. The other has a relatively simple structure, with a whole elliptical outer jacket, presenting a uniform and wide transmission band. The modal couplings of the dual-core AR-HCFs rely on a unique mechanism that transfers power through the air. The core separation and the gap between the two cores influence the modal coupling strength. With proper designs, both of the dual-core fibers can have low phase birefringence and short modal coupling lengths of several centimeters. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America