Hollow-Core Optical Fibers: Recent Advances and Applications

Dear Colleagues,

The domain of hollow-core fibers (HCFs) has witnessed impressive growth and innovation, emerging as a promising field in optical fiber technology. HCFs offer a wealth of potential due to their unique optical properties, including ultra-low loss, low nonlinearity, and reduced latency. Researchers have made significant strides in the design, fabrication, and applications of HCFs, leading to promising advancements in telecommunications, high-power delivery, nonlinear optics, and sensing. Recently, the achievements of sub-0.2 dB/km transmission loss and the routine fabrication of multi-kilometer HCFs have accelerated global research efforts in this area. As research in this field continues to mature, it is crucial to consolidate and share the latest breakthroughs, insights, and innovations.

This Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art developments, understanding, and diverse applications of hollow-core fibers, fostering further research and addressing the challenges faced by modern optical fiber systems.

We invite authors to submit research articles covering the following topics:

• Fundamentals of HCF optical properties and design, including novel concepts and considerations;
• Developments in HCF fabrication technology, fluid dynamics modeling of fiber drawing, and long-term reliability;
• Advanced fiber characterization techniques and performance optimization;
• Nonlinear optics in gas- or liquid-filled HCFs, and management of nonlinear effects;
• Low-latency communications, long-haul, and large-capacity optical communication systems enabled by HCFs;
• Sensing, spectroscopy, and imaging with or in HCFs, including optofluidics and chemical reaction studies;
• AI/machine learning for microstructure optimization in HCFs and related applications;
• HCFs filled with metals, nanocrystals, or other solids for novel applications;
• High-power laser delivery, and mid-infrared applications using HCFs;
• Biomedical applications of HCFs, such as surgery, diagnostics, and therapy.

Dr. Zitong Feng
Prof. Dr. Meng Pang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Photonics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• hollow-core fibers
• fabrication
• transmission
• interconnections
• optical devices
• spectroscopy
• imaging
• sensing
• optical communication
• high-power delivery