Glass nanowires for nonlinear optics and sensing: a top-down approach

Abstract

Optical microfibers (OMs) are waveguides of diameters comparable to the wavelength of the light propagating in them. Fig.1a shows a schematic of a typical microfiber: it consists of a region with thin waist connected to two conventional optical fibres by transition regions. Their sub-micron size, easy connectivity to conventional optical fibres and relatively high mechanical strength have made them ideal for a variety of applications including sensors, lasers and light sources. Moreover, their strong evanescent field, good light confinement and high nonlinearity have raised the interest in exploring the possibility to use these microfibers for cheap, compact optical devices