Propagation of polarised light in bent hi–bi spun fibres

The evolution of polarisation states (PS's) of broadband light propagating through a bent optical fibre with a helical structure of its refractive index anisotropy (hi–bi spun fibre) has been studied theoretically and experimentally. It has been shown that there exists a coordinate system of PS's in which the differential Jones matrix can be replaced by a diagonal matrix, which allows the polarisation parameters of the output broadband light to be readily calculated with sufficient accuracy. We have derived a formula for evaluating the magneto-optical sensitivity of a bent spun fibre. An approach has been proposed for restoring the degree of polarisation of light in a bent hi–bi spun fibre and, as a consequence, the visibility (contrast) of the interferometer in a current sensor with a sensing element based on the fibre under consideration.