Computations of birefringence characteristics of anisotropic fibres by solving the vectorial Maxwell equations

Presents in detail, a numerical approach for solving the vectorial Maxwell equations that like earlier methods is based on the finite-element method but differs from them primarily in the process used to find the modes of propagation. This procedure can be applied regardless of the geometrical shape of the fibre and is well suited to cases where the propagation media are anisotropic since no spurious modes are generated. Another advantage is convenience of application; the various mathematical steps involved can easily be performed with commercially available software packages. This method uses an iterative numerical procedure in which solutions of the Maxwell equations obtained by scalar approximation are used as trial functions in solving the vectorial Maxwell equations. This process employs a new integral expression that is developed for computing the propagation constant which takes into account the anisotropic properties of the dielectric media