Anisotropic tapered polarization-maintaining large mode area optical fibers

We demonstrate a novel type of tapered large mode area polarization-maintaining fiber. These birefringent fibers have an elliptical inner cladding and a core diameter that increases adiabatically from 8 μm to 70 μm. The polarization maintaining ability of the fiber samples was investigated by measuring the spatial distribution of polarization beat length by using optical frequency-domain reflectometry. The measurements show a clear correlation between the birefringence and the fiber core size, resulting in a modest 10-15% variation in polarization beat length along the fiber. There is no significant coupling of polarization modes or transverse modes in the tested fibers and, therefore, the linear polarization state of propagating light is preserved.