Coupling between optical fibers with left-handed materials

The coupling between optical fibers with left-handed materials is analyzed in this paper. First, we obtain new coupled-wave equations and define new relevant coupling coefficients by using Maxwell's equations. Second, the coupling between two identical fibers with the same left-handed material as the core and the same right-handed material as the common cladding is discussed. The coupling coefficient for TE01 mode is calculated. The coupling coefficient versus distance of two fibers with different normalized frequencies is plotted. Through comparing these curves, some new coupling characteristics between fibers including left-handed materials are obtained. (C) 2007 Optical Society of America.