Air-guiding photonic bandgap fibers: Spectral properties, macrobending loss, and practical handling

For development of hollow-core transmission fibers, the realizable fibers lengths, bandwidth, characterization, and compatibility with standard technology are important issues. We report record-length air-guiding fiber, spectral properties, splicing, and optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) measurements. Furthermore, spectral macrobending loss measurements for two different designs of air-core photonic bandgap fibers are presented. While bending loss is observed, it does not limit operation for all practical bending diameters (>5 mm).