Novel dispersion properties of photonic crystal fiber

Photonic crystal fibers (PCFs), which are also called microstructured fibers or holey fibers possess a core area surrounded by a cladding region composed of a fine array of micrometer-sized air holes that extend along the full fiber length. The wavelengthscale features in PCFs lead to novel properties including endlessly single-mode guidance, flexible dispersion control, and ultra-high nonlinearity. In this paper, novel dispersion properties of photonic crystal fiber, which are not easily achievable with conventional step-index structured fiber are reviewed. Furthermore, new possibilities in the area of soft glass based highly nonlinear fibers provided by the PCF technology are also presented.