Propagation Properties of Single-Mode Liquid-Core Optical Fibers With Subwavelength Diameter

We investigate the optical wave guiding properties of subwavelength-diameter liquid-core optical fibers (LOCFs) that are filled with high-refractive-index liquids. The single-mode condition, modal fields, nonlinear coefficient gamma, group velocities, and group velocity dispersions are studied theoretically. Compared with traditional silica subwavelength-diameter wires, subwavelength-diameter LOCFs show unique interesting properties, such as more confined guided-mode electrical fields and large nonlinear parameters gamma in the visible and infrared regions.