Birefringence sensitivity to temperature of polarization maintaining photonic crystal fibers

In this paper, we investigate the birefringence of polarization maintaining photonic crystal fibers (PM-PCFs) under thermal effect. Modeling and simulation of PM-PCFs under thermal effect are conducted. Birefringence in a PM-PCF as a function of the temperature is measured experimentally. The experimental results are in agreement with theoretical calculation, and show that the relative temperature dependent birefringence coefficient of the PM-PCF, dΔn/dT/Δn, is 2.93×10 ^-5/°C, which is typically ∼35 times less than that of conventional panda fibers. The insensitivity of polarization properties in PM-PCFs to temperature is demonstrated. These findings have important benefits in fiber optic systems and sensors, especially in fiber optic gyroscopes (FOG) where it translates into a lower polarization error and thus a higher measurement precision.