Pressure Effects on Structured Optical Fibre Drawing by Modified Single-Capillary Modelling

The impact of drawing pressure on the structure of solid-core structured optical fibres (SOFs) is investigated. A modified single-capillary model to cater for multi-capillary structural constraint in the radial axis within a larger single capillary draw, whilst retaining analytical simplicity, is proposed and shown to give improved fits with experimental data. For the cases we have experimented, an effective pressure is found approximately one-fifth less than that of the applied air pressure, based on the model and contributed from the interplay of applied pressure and the surface tension associated with the structure. In addition, the proposed model indicates that when birefringent SOFs with asymmetric holes having thinner walls were examined, the reduction in effective pressure is found to be about one-quarter of the pressure applied ? it is larger than the uniform case and supports the explanation. Thus the model offers a simple and useful relation between the structure and draw pressure in fabricating structured optical fibre.

Automated summary

The impact of drawing pressure on the structure of solid-core structured optical fibres (SOFs) is investigated using a modified model, which shows that the effective pressure is approximately one-fifth less than the applied air pressure. Additionally, the model suggests that when examining birefringent SOFs with thinner walls and asymmetric holes, the reduction in effective pressure is found to be about one-quarter of the applied pressure.