Single-Mode Photonic Band Gap Guidance of Light in Air

Science. 1999 Sep 3;285(5433):1537-1539. doi: 10.1126/science.285.5433.1537.

Abstract

The confinement of light within a hollow core (a large air hole) in a silica-air photonic crystal fiber is demonstrated. Only certain wavelength bands are confined and guided down the fiber, each band corresponding to the presence of a full two-dimensional band gap in the photonic crystal cladding. Single-mode vacuum waveguides have a multitude of potential applications from ultrahigh-power transmission to the guiding of cold atoms.