Full-vectorial analysis of complex refractive-index photonic crystal fibers

We investigated the modal properties of complex refractive-index core photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) with the supercell model. The validity of the approach is shown when we compare our results with those reported earlier on a step complex refractive-index profile. The imaginary part of the electric field results in wave-front distortion in the complex refractive-index profile PCFs, which means that the power flows out or into the doped region according to the sign of the imaginary part of the refractive index. A simple formula is proposed for calculating the gain or loss coefficients of these fibers. The numerical results obtained by the approximation formula agree well with the full-vectorial results. (C) 2004 Optical Society of America.