Structural long-period gratings in photonic crystal fibers

We report what is believed to be the first example of structural long-period gratings written in pure silica photonic crystal fibers (PCFs). The gratings are realized by periodic collapse of the holes of the PCF by heat treatment with a CO2 laser. The resulting periodic hole-size perturbation produces core-to-cladding-mode conversion. These results can lead to a new family of structural all-fiber devices that use the unique properties of PCFs. (C) 2002 Optical Society of America.