Abstract
In this paper we use the body of revolution (BOR) version of the finite difference time domain method to analyze axially-symmetric dielectric waveguides including optical fibers. Because the BOR technique is two-dimensional in nature, it is an efficient tool for analyzing the modes in optical fibers. In addition, the method is capable of dealing with individual modes propagating in the guide and this, in turn, facilitates the derivation of the dispersion diagrams for these modes without postprocessing. Dispersion diagrams of several modes of a dielectric guide, obtained by using the proposed technique show good agreement with the analytical results. Of course, the numerical technique is capable of handling dielectric guides with arbitrary radial profiles that are not readily amenable to analytical treatment. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.