Mode degeneration in bent photonic crystal fiber study by using the finite element method.

The development of highly dispersive lower and higher order cladding modes and their degeneration with respect to the fundamental core mode in a bent photonic crystal fiber is rigorously studied by use of the full-vectorial finite element method. It is shown that changes in the bending radius can modify the modal properties of large-area photonic crystal fibers, important for a number of potential practical applications.