A photonic crystal fiber includes a core region for propagating light in a longitudinal direction of the fiber, a cladding region surrounding the core region, the cladding region including micro-structural elements extending in the longitudinal direction. The cladding region further includes at least one stress element having a coefficient of thermal expansion .alpha..sub.T,SAP and extending in the longitudinal direction of the photonic crystal fiber, the stress element(s) being located in a cladding background material having a coefficient of thermal expansion .alpha..sub.T,cladback different from .alpha..sub.T,SAP. The location of the at least one stress element relative to the core region and the micro-structural elements and the coefficients of thermal expansion .alpha..sub.T,SAP and .alpha..sub.T,cladback are adapted to provide a stress induced birefringence in the core region of the photonic crystal fiber. An article includes a photonic crystal fiber, a method of manufacturing and the use of a photonic crystal fiber are furthermore provided.