A hollow-core antiresonant fiber (HC-ARF) with nested supporting rings (NSRs) has a fiber structure that includes from the inside out a fiber core, a first silica antiresonant ring (SARR), a first air antiresonant ring (AARR), a second SARR, a second AARR and an external silica wall. The fiber structure further includes a first NSR within the first AARR and a second NSR within the second AARR. The HC-ARF with NSRs has advantages and benefits of low confined loss (CL), large bandwidth, simple structure and very good bending characteristics. Therefore, the application fields of HC-ARF are greatly expanded.

A multi-core fiber includes: a plurality of cores; and a cladding portion formed around outer peripheries of the cores. Further, the cores each have a propagation characteristic conforming to any one of a plurality of standards for optical propagation characteristics, and of the cores, cores that are closest to each other conform to standards different from each other.

Optical waveguide cores having refractive index profiles that vary angularly about a propagation axis of the core can provide single-mode operation with larger core diameters than conventional waveguides. In one representative embodiment, an optical waveguide comprises a core that extends along a propagation axis and has a refractive index profile that varies angularly about the propagation axis. The optical waveguide can also comprise a cladding disposed about the core and extending along the propagation axis. The refractive index profile of the core can vary angularly along a length of the propagation axis.

This application relates generally to an optical fiber for the delivery of infrared light where the polarization state of the light entering the fiber is preserved upon exiting the fiber and the related methods for making thereof. The optical fiber has a wavelength between about 0.9 m and 15 m, comprises at least one infrared-transmitting glass, and has a polarization-maintaining (PM) transverse cross-sectional structure. The infrared-transmitting, polarization-maintaining (IR-PM) optical fiber has a birefringence greater than 10.sup.5 and has applications in dual-use technologies including laser power delivery, sensing and imaging.

The disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a multicore optical fiber comprising a plurality of cores and a common cladding covering each of the plurality of cores and having a non-circular cross-sectional shape capable of passive alignment. The method includes providing an optical fiber preform having a cross-sectional shape delimited by a line obtained by replacing a part of a circumference with one chord or two chords parallel to each other, and applying a drawing tension to one end of the optical fiber preform to draw a multicore optical fiber. An aspect ratio x of the cladding defined by a ratio of a radius of a circle defining the circumference to a distance from the center of the circle to the chord and a drawing tension y are set so that the common cladding has a depression at the center of a plane corresponding to the one or each of the two chords.

A hollow-core antiresonant fiber (HC-ARF) with nested supporting rings (NSRs) has a fiber structure that includes from the inside out a fiber core, a first silica antiresonant ring (SARR), a first air antiresonant ring (AARR), a second SARR, a second AARR and an external silica wall. The fiber structure further includes a first NSR within the first AARR and a second NSR within the second AARR. The HC-ARF with NSRs has advantages and benefits of low confined loss (CL), large bandwidth, simple structure and very good bending characteristics. Therefore, the application fields of HC-ARF are greatly expanded.

A method of producing a capillary tube from glass includes zonally softening a tubular preform having an outer diameter D.sub.OD, an inner diameter D.sub.ID and a diameter ratio D.sub.relwith D.sub.rel=D.sub.OD/D.sub.IDin a heating zone heated to a draw temperature T.sub.draw and drawing off continuously from the softened region a capillary strand having an outer diameter d.sub.AD, an inner diameter d.sub.ID and a diameter ratio d.sub.relwith d.sub.rel=d.sub.OD/d.sub.IDat a draw speed v.sub.draw and cutting the capillary to length therefrom. For cost-effective production of a thick-walled capillary by drawing from a preform without strict requirements for the geometry and dimensional accuracy of the preform, the capillary bore is subjected in the heating zone to a shrinkage process based on the action of draw temperature T.sub.draw and surface tension, such that the diameter ratio d.sub.rel of the capillary strand is adjusted to a value greater than the diameter ratio D.sub.rel of the preform by at least a factor of 5.

A method for making an optical fiber device may include using a three-dimensional (3D) printer to generate a preform body including an optical material. The preform body may have a 3D pattern of voids therein defining a 3D lattice. The method may further include drawing the preform body to form the optical fiber device.

A method for making an optical fiber device may include using a three-dimensional (3D) printer to generate a preform body including an optical material. The preform body may have a 3D pattern of voids therein defining a 3D lattice. The method may further include drawing the preform body to form the optical fiber device.

An optical fiber manufacturing method includes setting a first holding member and a rod inside a glass pipe, the first holding member made of glass and having plural holes formed, so that the rod is supported by the first holding member; filling glass particles between the rod and a glass pipe inner wall; holding the rod such that the rod and the filled glass particles are enclosed by the glass pipe inner wall and the first and second holding members, and sealing one end of the glass pipe and manufacturing an intermediate; and manufacturing an optical fiber from the intermediate, wherein a bulk density of the first and second holding members is set with reference to a bulk density of a filling portion made from the glass particles, and the predetermined range is determined according to a core diameter permissible variation range in its longitudinal direction.