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Photonics
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Advances in Hollow-Core Optical Fibers: From Fundamentals to Applications
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Advances in Hollow-Core Optical Fibers: From Fundamentals to Applications

A special issue of Photonics (ISSN 2304-6732). This special issue belongs to the section "Lasers, Light Sources and Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 October 2026 | Viewed by 4437

Editors

Dr. Charu Goel

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Guest Editor
Temasek Laboratories, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore
Interests: microstructured fibers; hollow-core fibers; fiber lasers; inline fiber devices
Dr. Daiqi Xiong

E-Mail
Guest Editor
Hangzhou International Innovation Institute, Beihang University, Hangzhou, China
Interests: hollow-core fibers; ultrafast light-matter interactions; nonlinear optics avatar

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Hollow-core optical fibers (HCFs) have witnessed remarkable advancements in recent years, achieving unprecedented milestones in broadband, low-loss, and low-latency transmission. These achievements extend well beyond telecommunications, with HCFs enabling transformative applications in diverse fields, including nonlinear optics in gas- and liquid-filled fibers, high-sensitivity sensing, spectroscopy, fiber lasers, biomedical diagnostics, optofluidics, and quantum technologies.

The field has delivered impressive results—such as sub-cycle and sub-femtosecond optical pulse compression, the millijoule-level energy scaling of optical solitons, and the generation of multi-octave Raman frequency combs—and continues to expand. HCFs have also paved the way for a new class of gas-based light sources spanning the deep ultraviolet to the mid-infrared. These fibers offer incredible potential for nonlinearity-free laser beam delivery, with demonstrations of the high-beam-quality transmission of kilowatt-level continuous-wave lasers and gigawatt-peak-power ultrashort pulses.

This Special Issue invites original research articles showcasing the latest theoretical, numerical, and experimental advances in hollow-core optical fibers and their wide-ranging applications. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Novel optical fiber geometry design, fabrication, and characterization;
  • Hollow-core fibers for telecommunications;
  • Multimode hollow-core fibers and their applications
  • The spectroscopy and sensing applications of hollow-core fibers;
  • Ultrafast optics in hollow-core fibers;
  • Light–matter interactions in hollow-core fibers;
  • Deep-UV sources using hollow-core fibers and their applications;
  • Mid-IR sources using hollow-core fibers and their applications;
  • Laser beam delivery using hollow-core fibers;
  • Interconnections of hollow-core fibers with all-solid fibers;
  • Hollow-core fiber-based inline devices;

Dr. Charu Goel
Dr. Daiqi Xiong
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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-anonymized 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.

Keywords

  • hollow-core optical fibers
  • antiresonant optical fibers
  • photonic bandgap fibers
  • gas lasers
  • light–matter interactions
  • mid-infrared sources
  • THz waveguides
  • optical fiber sensing
  • beam delivery

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 6389 KB  
Article
Selective Corneal Tissue Ablation via Amide-Resonant Mid-Infrared Femtosecond Pulses Delivered by an Anti-Resonant Hollow-Core Fiber
by Junbo Zhao, Ang Deng, Jinmiao Guo, Xuemei Yang, Wei Li, Xing Huang, Wenyong Luo and Houkun Liang
Photonics 2026, 13(3), 219; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics13030219 - 26 Feb 2026
Viewed by 746
Abstract
Mid-infrared (MIR) femtosecond lasers, resonant with the absorption bands of amide-related molecular groups in the range of 6.1 to 6.5 μm, have been demonstrated to be effective for tissue ablation. However, the flexible and stable delivery of such pulses to micrometer-scale tissue regions [...] Read more.
Mid-infrared (MIR) femtosecond lasers, resonant with the absorption bands of amide-related molecular groups in the range of 6.1 to 6.5 μm, have been demonstrated to be effective for tissue ablation. However, the flexible and stable delivery of such pulses to micrometer-scale tissue regions for controlled ablation remains challenging. Here, we utilize a silica-based anti-resonant hollow-core fiber (AR-HCF) to deliver high-power MIR femtosecond pulses with high temporal and spectral fidelity, featuring pulse durations of approximately 340 fs and peak power densities exceeding 1 GW/cm2, for selective tissue ablation. Benefiting from the small numerical aperture of the AR-HCF, a relatively stable and consistent beam spot size can be maintained over a millimeter-scale propagation distance. Precise control of the ablation depth can be achieved by appropriately selecting the scanning parameters, with penetration depths reaching the sub-millimeter scale. Furthermore, for the first time, we systematically compare the tissue ablation performance of MIR femtosecond lasers at resonant wavelengths (6.4 and 6.1 μm) and a non-resonant wavelength (5.5 μm) under identical scanning conditions. An ablation depth ratio of more than 8:1 is observed, demonstrating the high efficiency and selectivity of the resonance-based ablation mechanism. These results establish flexible delivery of high-power MIR femtosecond pulses in tissue-resonant bands via silica-based AR-HCF as a powerful platform for selective, precise, and efficient tissue ablation, providing a promising approach for interventional and minimally invasive surgery. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Hollow-Core Optical Fibers: From Fundamentals to Applications)
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12 pages, 5803 KB  
Article
Tunable Near-Infrared Laser Emission at 1.7 μm Generated by Stimulated Raman Scattering of Sulfur Hexafluoride Molecules in Anti-Resonant Hollow-Core Fibers
by Peicong Liu, Tianyu Li, Wenxi Pei, Luohao Lei, Jing Shi, Guorui Lv, Qi Chen, Guangrong Sun, Yamei Xu, Shuyi Wang, Zhiyue Zhou and Zefeng Wang
Photonics 2025, 12(12), 1196; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics12121196 - 4 Dec 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 666
Abstract
Fiber lasers operating at 1.7 μm have significant application value in fields such as gas detection and material processing due to their characteristics, including compact structure and ease of thermal management. Based on the stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) of gas molecules in hollow-core [...] Read more.
Fiber lasers operating at 1.7 μm have significant application value in fields such as gas detection and material processing due to their characteristics, including compact structure and ease of thermal management. Based on the stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) of gas molecules in hollow-core fibers (HCFs), fiber gas Raman lasers (FGRLs) are a novel and effective method for generating 1.7 μm fiber lasers. We report here, to the best of our knowledge, the first FGRL based on the anti-resonant hollow-core fiber (AR-HCF) filled with sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) molecules. A nanosecond pulsed fiber amplifier tunable from 1540 to 1560 nm was used to pump a 17.8-m-long AR-HCF filled with SF6 molecules. By virtue of the vibrational SRS of SF6 molecules, laser output in the range of 1748–1774 nm was achieved. At a gas pressure of 15 bar, a maximum average power output of ~3 W was obtained, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of ~22%. The output linewidth of the Raman laser was measured to be approximately 2.1 GHz using a Fabry–Pérot (F-P) scanning interferometer. The research results enriched the methods for 1.7 μm fiber laser output. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Hollow-Core Optical Fibers: From Fundamentals to Applications)
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11 pages, 2078 KB  
Article
High-Performance 1.5 μm Hollow-Core Fiber Gas Raman Laser Amplifier Enabled by Seed Injection
by Wenxi Pei, Peicong Liu, Shuyi Wang, Luohao Lei, Tianyu Li, Zhiyue Zhou and Zefeng Wang
Photonics 2025, 12(12), 1172; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics12121172 - 28 Nov 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 882
Abstract
We demonstrate a 1.5 μm methane-filled hollow-core fiber (HCF) amplifier that delivers 7.1 W of narrow-linewidth (<0.1 nm), near-diffraction-limited (M2 < 1.2) pulsed Raman output. The system is pumped by a 1064 nm pulsed fiber laser and amplifies a 1543 nm continuous-wave [...] Read more.
We demonstrate a 1.5 μm methane-filled hollow-core fiber (HCF) amplifier that delivers 7.1 W of narrow-linewidth (<0.1 nm), near-diffraction-limited (M2 < 1.2) pulsed Raman output. The system is pumped by a 1064 nm pulsed fiber laser and amplifies a 1543 nm continuous-wave seed via stimulated Raman scattering in methane. Using a 45-m HCF, we systematically investigated the influence of seed injection on key laser characteristics, covering the spectral profile, power scaling, and beam properties. This work provides an effective strategy for realizing high-performance fiber lasers in the 1.5 μm band. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Hollow-Core Optical Fibers: From Fundamentals to Applications)
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Review

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24 pages, 1734 KB  
Review
Recent Progress in Development of Hollow-Core Fibers for Telecommunications and Data Transmission Applications
by Krzysztof Borzycki
Photonics 2026, 13(5), 494; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics13050494 - 15 May 2026
Viewed by 1296
Abstract
The progress made in several fields after 2023 is rather significant. Attenuation achieved by the best HCFs was reduced to 0.05–0.10 dB/km at 1550 nm, while the lowest attenuation achieved in a single-mode fiber with a pure silica core equals 0.14 dB/km. Polarization [...] Read more.
The progress made in several fields after 2023 is rather significant. Attenuation achieved by the best HCFs was reduced to 0.05–0.10 dB/km at 1550 nm, while the lowest attenuation achieved in a single-mode fiber with a pure silica core equals 0.14 dB/km. Polarization mode dispersion (PMD) has been reduced to a level typical of SMFs, through fiber spinning. In November 2024, Microsoft announced a 2-year plan to install 15,000 km of HCF cables between and within data centers processing data for Microsoft Azure cloud services. Furthermore, several HCF manufacturers have emerged: UK-based Microsoft Azure Fiber and two Microsoft subcontractors, namely Corning Inc. and Heraeus Covantics, plus two major HCF manufacturers in China, YOFC and Linfiber. Additionally, extensive work was carried out on optical amplifiers to enable new transmission bands in HCFs, both at short wavelengths (≈1300–1500 nm), with bismuth-doped active fibers, and long wavelengths (≈1700–2100 nm), with thulium- and holmium-doped fibers. On the other hand, progress in HCF standardization, splicing and elimination of loss bands introduced by contaminants, has been marginal. Standardization is blocked by multiple fiber designs being tried, with no clear winner emerging yet. Despite this, hollow-core fibers have been successfully debuted in large-scale commercial data centers and are also used in low-latency data links. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Hollow-Core Optical Fibers: From Fundamentals to Applications)
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