Highly efficient hybrid-structured photonic crystal fiber with ultra-low loss and near-zero flat dispersion for terahertz waveguiding.

We have developed a new type of hybrid-structured Photonic Crystal Fiber (H-PCF) that includes a sectored core-cladding configuration. It's composed of a cladding with a regular circular sectored lattice structure and a core with a hexagonal sectored lattice structure. To extensively design, analyze, and calculate the fiber's properties, the finite element method has been used. The results provide validation for the superior performance of this novel fiber design. It simultaneously achieves extremely low effective material loss and confinement loss equal to 0.0145 cm⁻1 and 1 × 10⁻14 cm⁻1, respectively, at the 1 THz frequency. Furthermore, the fiber demonstrates nearly zero flattened dispersion (− 0.45 ± 0.55 ps/THz/cm) across the 0.9–1.3 THz frequency range, along with important attributes such as a large core power fraction (50%) and an effective area of 5 × 105 µm2. The suggested PCF design is practical for manufacturing utilizing currently available technologies. Moreover, the proposed PCF design, employing common structured regions in the circular and hexagonal patterns for the sectored cladding and core regions, respectively, is feasible for fabrication using existing technologies. Overall, this H-PCF shows significant potential for various THz applications, especially in THz wave guidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]