A photonic crystal fibre has an array of microscopic air holes running along its length. The periodicity of the array is broken by a deliberate "defect" that acts as a waveguide core. Light is confined to this core by the holes. Although some designs of photonic crystal fibre guide light by total internal reflection and so can be considered analogues of conventional optical fibres, their properties can be strikingly different. Other designs guide light by photonic bandgap confinement and represent a totally new type of fibre.

A photonic crystal fibre has an array of microscopic air holes running along its length. The periodicity of the array is broken by a deliberate "defect" that acts as a waveguide core. Light is confined to this core by the holes. Although some designs of photonic crystal fibre guide light by total internal reflection and so can be considered analogues of conventional optical fibres, their properties can be strikingly different. Other designs guide light by photonic bandgap confinement and represent a totally new type of fibre.