Simple qualitative explanations for light guidance in index-guiding fibres, holey fibres, photonic band-gap fibres and nanowires

This is a tutorial-style paper in which simple explanations are presented to provide qualitative insight into the different physical processes that account for the guidance of light in the broadening spectrum of fibre types. These types include solid-material index-guiding fibres, holey fibres, photonic band-gap fibres and nano-wires.