Letter
4 / 15 February 2018 / Optics Letters 655
Few-period helically twisted all-solid photonic
bandgap fibers
JIE LI, PENGCHENG FAN, LI-PENG SUN, CHUANG WU,
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optical Fiber Sensing and Communications, Institute of Photonics Technology, Jinan University,
Guangzhou 510632, China
*Corresponding author: tguanbo@jnu.edu.cn
Received 12 October 2017; revised 21 December 2017; accepted 7 January 2018; posted 8 January 2018 (Doc. ID 309149);
published 6 February 2018
We present a type of few-period helically twisted all-solid
photonic bandgap fiber (AS-PBGFs). The helical structure
leads to orbital resonance of a cladding rod light, which
couples with the core mode. A two-period twist structure
exhibits an extremely strong resonant dip of up to 30 dB.
A series of samples with twist periods of 3.31–7.92 mm
(yielding twist rates of 1.90 − 0.79 rad⋅mm−1 ) in association
with different resonance orders are fabricated and demon-
strated. The inherent physical mechanism underlying the
resonance is analyzed. Moreover, the responses of the
resonance to mechanical torsion, strain, and temperature
are investigated. The twisted AS-PBGFs feature high repro-
ducibility, stability, and robustness, and have great poten-
tial in tunable in-fiber filters and sensors. © 2018 Optical
Society of America
OCIS codes: (060.0060) Fiber optics and optical communications;
(060.2310) Fiber optics; (060.2340) Fiber optics components.
https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.43.000655
Helically twisted optical fibers have been attracting great interest
for their potential applications in polarization control [1,2], fiber
grating-based coupling [3–8], fiber lasing/sensing [9–11], optical
vortex generation [12,13], etc. They have been realized in the
fiber with a noncircular or eccentric core [2–6,11,12], or a
noncircular cladding [7–10,13]. Recently, these concepts have
been applied to photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) [14–21], which
produce a lot of interesting new phenomena. For example,
Churikov et al. demonstrated that the Bragg diffraction origi-
nated from the twist of the microstructure cladding [14].
Shin et al. reported the long-period grating coupling effect,
which can be further developed as special sensors [15].
Wong et al. observed a series of dips in the transmission spec-
trum for the twisted PCF and explained them with anti-crossings
between the core mode and the fundamental “space-filling”
mode that carries orbital angular momentum [16,17]. Within
the spectral window between the dips, the device exhibits optical
activity [18,19]. Subsequently, Xi et al. measured the response of
the dip of the helical PCF to external mechanical twist and
strain, and suggested the potential application for the optically
0146-9592/18/040655-04 Journal © 2018 Optical Society of America
Vol. 43, No.
AND BAI-OU GUAN*
monitored sensing [20]. However, these studies are limited to the
index-guiding fibers, i.e., step-index fibers and PCFs. No
attempt has been made to study twisted photonic bandgap fibers
to date, to the best of our knowledge.
Photonic bandgap fibers, which confine light by the
bandgap effect originating from the two-dimensional periodic
cladding, have presented different modal properties and pro-
vided a platform for implementation of functional devices.
All-solid photonic bandgap fibers (AS-PBGFs) are a type of
bandgap fiber which, unlike the hollow-core counterparts,
can be easily integrated with conventional single-mode fibers,
showing promise in many applications [22]. In this Letter, we
report a class of few-period helically twisted AS-PBGFs. A two-
period structure induces a strong resonant dip of ∼30 dB.
A series of samples with twist periods from 3.31 to 7.92 mm
(or twist rates from 1.90 to 0.79 rad⋅mm−1 ) is realized. A deep
discussion is performed. The responses of the resonance to
mechanical torsion, strain, and temperature are also investi-
gated. The results are valuable for the device to be used in tun-
able in-fiber filters and sensors.
Figure 1(a) shows the schematic of a helically twisted AS-
PBGF. The twist period is L
2π∕α, where α is the twist rate.
The inset is the scanning electron micrograph of the cross section
of the AS-PBGF (manufactured by Yangtze Company, China),
which contains a pure silica core and a cladding with an array of
hexagonally arranged germanosilicate rods of five layers em-
bedded in a silica background. The whole cladding diameter
is 125 μm, the rod diameter is ∼4.1 μm, and the lattice pitch
of the rods is ∼11.0 μm. The index difference between the rods
and the silica background is ∼0.030 measured by a Photon
Kinetics S14. According to the antiresonant reflecting optical
waveguide model, photonic bandgaps generated from antireso-
nance of the rods prohibit the light within them from penetrat-
ing into the cladding, but it is trapped in the core. The cladding
rod can support eigenmodes by an index-guiding mechanism;
the coupling between the rods establish the field profiles of
the supermodes over the whole cladding region [22–25]. Our
AS-PBGF can be directly fusion spliced to a standard single-
mode fiber with a splice loss of less than 0.5 dB with no inter-
modal interference. Figure 1(b) illustrates the experimental setup
for the fabrication of helical AS-PBGFs. The whole process is
 656 Vol. 43, No. 4 / 15 February 2018 / Optics Letters
Fig. 1. (a) Schematic of helically twisted AS-PBGF with a period of
L. The inset is the scanning electron micrograph along the cross
section of the fiber. (b) Experimental setup for fabrication of the helical
AS-PBGF. (c) Lateral microscopic image of a helical AS-PBGF with
L
3.456 mm (α
1.818 rad⋅mm−1 ). Both the twisted and un-
twisted sections can be distinguished from each other.
accomplished using a secondarily developed splicer machine
(Fujikura FSM-100P+). As shown in Fig. 1(b), the two ends
of an AS-PBGF are clamped by the fiber holders: one holder
is rotatable driven by a rotation motor, while the other one is
fixed. Both the fiber and the holders as a whole can move along
the axis driven by a translation stage. A pair of electrodes is used
to produce arc discharge to heat the fiber to the softening tem-
perature (∼1700°C). The arc intensity is modified by an electric
current. With the optimization of the rotating speed of the fiber
holder and the moving speed of the translation stage, in combi-
nation with the arc strength, the desired helical AS-PBGF can be
formed. Figure 1(c) provides the lateral microscopic image
of a fabricated helical AS-PBGF with a twist period of L

3.456 mm (yielding a twist rate of α
1.818 rad⋅mm−1 ).
Both the twisted and untwisted sections can be distinguished
from each other. During the twisting of the AS-PBGF, the
cross-sectional view of the structure is almost unvaried and
consistent with the inset in Fig. 1(a). Compared with other set-
ups [7,8], this fabrication method can solve the alignment prob-
lem between the heating source, the fiber, and the rotation/
translation stages, thus exhibiting high stability and repeatability.
Figure 2 plots the transmission spectra for the light in the
core of the helical AS-PBGF at different twist period numbers
of N
0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2, monitored by a broadband light
source in conjunction with an optical spectrum analyzer. The
distance between the twisted section of the fiber and the optical
spectrum analyzer is about half a meter. With an increase of N ,
the resonant dip increases dramatically, while the dip wave-
length remains almost unchanged around a wavelength of
∼1533.5 nm. The twist period is L
6.912 mm (or the twist
rate of α
0.909 rad · mm−1 ). As a comparison, the period for
long-period gratings inscribed in the AS-PBGFs is typically sev-
eral hundred micrometers [24,25]. The period in Fig. 2 is also
one order of magnitude higher than that of the twisted PCFs
[16–21] or the twist-induced gratings [3–8,14,15]. From
Fig. 2, a two-period structure induces a strong resonant dip
of ∼30 dB, which may be attributed to the strong coupling
Letter
Fig. 2. Transmission spectra for light in the core of the helical AS-
PBGF at different period numbers of N
0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2, re-
spectively, with L
6.912 mm (yielding α
0.909 rad · mm−1 ).
The insets are the near-field images of transmitted intensities before
and after the twist of the fiber, as indicated by A and B, respectively.
between the core mode and the orbital resonance state of
the cladding mode [16]. The fabricated device shows an off-
resonance transmission loss of ∼0.7 dB only.
The phenomenon can be explained by the theoretical model
previously established in PCFs [16]. According to this model,
the Poynting vector of the cladding light for an untwisted fiber
points along the fiber axis but, when the structure is gently
twisted (αΛ ≪ 1, with Λ the lattice pitch), the cladding light
is forced to follow a helical trajectory around the fiber core,
generating orbital angular momentum. The azimuthal compo-
nent of the index vector is expressed by nrod αρ, where nrod is the
effective refractive index, and ρ is the radius of the azimuthal
route for the light in the cladding. Note that here both nrod and
ρ are affiliated with the supermode while in PCFs they are with
the space-filling mode of the cladding [16]. The orbital reso-
nance is formed when the azimuthal component of the
effective index multiplied by the circumference equals a num-
ber of λ, leading to
λ
2πnrod ρ2 α∕l ; (1)
where l is an integer representing the orbital resonance order,
and λ is the vacuum wavelength. The orbital resonance in the
cladding topologically couples to the core, causing a dip in the
transmission spectrum [16]. From Eq. (1), the dip wavelength
increases linearly with α, different from the behavior in the gra-
ting devices [3–8,15]. The following experiments can verify the
concept of Eq. (1) and indicate that the product nrod ρ2 is a
constant in the system.
To identify the light confinement of the resonance, we use a
tunable laser with the output wavelength around the dip to
illuminate the AS-PBGF via a lead-in single-mode fiber. The
insets in Fig. 2 show the near-field images of the transmitted
light intensities at points A and B, corresponding to the cases
before and after the fiber twist, respectively. The light for the
untwisted fiber is localized in the core but, after the fiber is
twisted, the majority of the light is transferred to and carried
by the rods in the cladding, in contrast to the case of twisted
PCFs, where the light is transferred to the holey cladding and
leaks away [16]. As shown in Fig. 2, further increasing the
twisted section of the fiber induces decreasing of the dip depth,
which may be attributed to the recoupling of light from the
rods to the fiber core.
 Letter
A series of helically twisted AS-PBGF samples with different
twist rates (or twist periods) are fabricated and analyzed.
Figure 3(a) plots the measured resonant wavelengths as a func-
tion of the twist period L (top axis) and the twist rate α (bottom
axis). The twist period varies from 3.3 to 9.3 mm, correspond-
ing to the twist rate from 1.90 to 0.70 rad · mm−1 . As shown in
Fig. 3(a), we classify the experimental data into three groups;
for each group, the resonant wavelength varies almost linearly
with α (the reciprocal of L ). By linearly fitting the data, we
can obtain the slopes, which are defined as the wavelength
divided by the twist rate. They are 1691.97, 1105.74, and
840.16 nm∕rad⋅mm−1  for l
2, 3, and 4, respectively.
Ideally, the wavelength approaches zero when α ∼ 0 (i.e., an
infinity of L ), consistent with Eq. (1). The results suggest high
flexibility for designing the helical structure in practice.
Figure 3(b) provides several typical transmission spectra at α

0.91 (L
6.91 mm, N
2), 1.36 (L
4.61 mm, N
3),
1.82 (L
3.46 mm, N
4), and 1.59 rad · mm−1 (L

3.82 mm, N
4), respectively, with a relation to points a–d,
shown in Fig. 3(a). Although the points a–c have quite
different twist periods (or twist rates), the resonant wavelengths
are similar at 1533  2.0 nm. The transmission characteristics
of the helical structure are measured to be polarization indepen-
dent, similar to the twisted PCFs [16]. By substititing the
measured data into Eq. (1), we obtain the best fit product
nrod ρ2
84.2 μm2 .
After the helical structure is formed, we measure the re-
sponse of the resonance to mechanical torsion. It is performed
by fixing one end of the helical fiber with a fiber holder and
rotating the other end using a rotation stage. A slight tension is
applied along the fiber axis to keep it strictly straight. The
mechanical torsion rate αM can be calculated from the angle
of rotation and the distance between two fixed fiber ends.
Figure 4 plots the resonant wavelength shift as a function of
αM for the two structures with α
0.909 (L
6.912 mm)
and 1.818 rad · mm−1 (L
3.456 mm). The dots are the ex-
perimental values, and the lines are the linear fitting results.
The insets are transmission spectra around the dip with differ-
ent αM for the two structures. The dip wavelength redshifts as
αM is co-directional to α, i.e., αM > 0, while it blueshifts as αM
is contra-directional to α, i.e., αM < 0, showing good linear
relationship from Fig. 4. The numerical fit to the measure-
ments produces mechanical-torsion sensitivities of 112.1 and
Fig. 3. (a) Measured dip wavelengths as a function of the twist rate
α (below axis) and the twist period L (above axis). (b) Several typical
transmission spectra at α
0.91 (L
6.91 mm, N
2), 1.36
(L
4.61 mm, N
3), 1.82 (L
3.46 mm, N
4), and
1.59 rad⋅mm−1 (L
3.82 mm, N
4), with relation to points
a–d shown in (a).
Vol. 43, No. 4 / 15 February 2018 / Optics Letters 657
Fig. 4. Resonant wavelength shift as a function of mechanical
torsion rate αM for two structures with α
0.909 rad · mm−1
(L
6.912 mm) and α
1.818 rad · mm−1 (L
3.456 mm).
The dots are the experimental values, and the lines are the linear fitting
results. The insets are transmission spectra around the dip with respect
to different αM for the two structures.
115.5 nm∕rad · mm−1  for α
0.909 and 1.818 rad·
mm−1 , respectively. The obtained mechanical-torsion sensitiv-
ities are similar to each other. (The difference is ∼3% only,
mostly due to the fabrication-related nonuniformities in geom-
etry.) The experimental results indicate that the mechanical-
torsion sensitivity is almost independent of α, which we
attribute to the presence of the torsion-induced stress inside
the fiber. From Fig. 4, the measured mechanical-torsion sensi-
tivity is higher than that of the twisted PCFs [20] and, thus, has
potential for tunable optical filtering or sensing applications.
To measure the response of the resonance to strain, we fix a
helical AS-PBGF with two fiber holders and stretch the struc-
ture along the axis by a translation stage. Figure 5 gives the
resonant wavelength shift as a function of strain ε for the struc-
tures with α
1.818 (L
3.456 mm) and 1.647 rad · mm−1
(L
3.816 mm). The dots are the experimental values, and
the lines are the linear fitting results. The insets are transmis-
sion spectra around the dip at different ε for the two structures.
Fig. 5. Resonant wavelength shift as a function of axial strain for the
structures with α
1.818 (L
3.456 mm) and 1.647 rad · mm−1
(L
3.816 mm). The dots are the experimental values, and the lines
are the linear fitting results. The insets are transmission spectra around
the dip with respect to differential ε for the two structures.
 658 Vol. 43, No. 4 / 15 February 2018 / Optics Letters
Stretching the structure leads to a blueshift of the resonant
wavelength, different from the case of the long period grating
in the AS-PBGF [24]. The measured spectral shifts are
−5.801 nm with ε
0–3000 με and −5.677 nm with ε

0–3696 με, producing sensitivities of −1.84 pm∕με around
λ
1530 nm and −1.53 pm∕με around λ
1380 nm for
the two structures, respectively. A higher strain was not applied
to avoid breaking the structure. Derived from Eq. (1), the strain
sensitivity S strain is expressed by [20]
 
Δλ n2rod
S strain

λ −1 − 2v  vp11  p12  − p12  ; (2)
ε 2
where v is the Poisson’s ratio, and p11 and p12 are the photo-
elastic coefficients of the fiber material. It is revealed that S strain
is not directly related to the twist rate α, but depends on the
wavelength λ. A longer wavelength generates higher sensitivity,
consistent with the observations in Fig. 5. Assuming ν
0.16,
p11
0.113, p12
0.252, and nrod
1.46 for the AS-PBGF
[23], we estimate S strain
−2.34 pm∕με at λ
1530 nm and
−2.11 at λ
1380 nm. These calculated results agree with the
measured values in Fig. 5.
The temperature coefficient is obtained by placing a twisted
AS-PBGF into a resistance furnace in air. The furnace temper-
ature is changed by an electric circuit and recorded by a thermom-
eter. Figure 6(a) plots resonant wavelength as a function of
temperature, and Fig. 6(b) plots the transmission spectra at differ-
ent temperatures, for α
1.818 rad mm−1 (L
3.456 mm).
As the temperature increases from 25°C to 95°C, the dip wave-
length redshifts from 1532.0 to 1532.6 nm gradually, producing
a total shift of ∼0.60 nm. The numerical fit to the measurements
gives a temperature coefficient of ∼10.5 pm∕°C. To analyze the
temperature coefficient, we take a small variation of temperature
T from Eq. (1) and obtain
Δλ
ST

λβ1  β2 ; (3)
ΔT
where β1
5 × 10−7 ∕°C represents the thermal-expansion coef-
ficient, and β2
6 × 10−6 ∕°C represents the thermo-optic coef-
ficient of the fiber material. It is clear that the temperature
coefficient of the twisted AS-PBGF is dissimilar to the long-
period fiber gratings [11,26]. From Eq. (3), we calculate the
temperature coefficient and obtain S T
9.96 pm∕°C at
λ
1532 nm. The calculation shows good agreement with
the experimental result in Fig. 6. The temperature coefficient
becomes larger at a longer wavelength. In practice, the temper-
ature should be kept stable to minimize the crossing effects
during measurements of other parameters.
Fig. 6. (a) Resonant wavelength as a function of temperature.
(b) Transmission spectra at different temperatures, with α

1.818 rad mm−1 (L
3.456 mm).
Letter
To conclude, we have demonstrated a kind of few-period hel-
ically twisted AS-PBGFs. The transmission dip reaches up to
30 dB for a structure with two periods only. A series of samples
with ultra-long periods from 3.31 to 7.92 mm (i.e., twist rates
from 1.90 to 0.79 rad · mm−1 ) in association with different res-
onance orders is demonstrated and compared with other coun-
terparts. A deep analysis is performed. The responses of the
resonance on mechanical torsion, strain, and temperature are in-
vestigated and discussed in detail, suggesting that the twisted AS-
PBGFs can be developed in tunable in-fiber filters or sensors.
Funding. China National Funds for Distinguished Young
Scientists (61225023); National Natural Science Foundation
of China (NSFC) (61235005, 61575083); Guangdong
Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholars
(2014A030306040); Natural Science Foundation of
Guangdong Province (2014A030313364).
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