  An index-guiding photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with an array of air holes
surrounding the silica core region has special characteristics compared to
conventional single-mode fibers (SMFs). Using the effective index method and
the Gaussian beam propagation theory, the macro-bending and splice losses for
PCFs are investigated. The wavelength dependence of the cladding index of the
PCF has been taken properly into account. We obtain the effective spot size for
different configurations of PCFs, which is used for computing the splice
losses. The Gaussian approximation for the fundamental modal field leads to
simple closed-form expressions for the splice losses produced by transverse,
longitudinal and angular offsets. Calculations of macro-bending losses are
based on antenna theory for bend standard fibers.
