Birefringence-induced splitting of the Zero-dispersion wavelength in nonlinear photonic crystal fibers

We investigate how the strongly wavelength-dependent birefringence in nonlinear photonic crystal fibers leads to a splitting in the zero-dispersion wavelength for the two polarizations. We translate the requirements for the maximum splitting of the zero-dispersion wavelength to requirements for transverse structural uniformity by adopting a simple effective-index approach in which the birefringence is calculated in a step-index fiber with an elliptical core. We find that to reduce the splitting to less than 1nm the birefringence should be less than 210 -5 , resulting in a transverse uniformity requirement of 1 3%, depending on the index step from the core to the cladding.