Loss reduction in few-mode photonic crystal fiber by reducing inner surface imperfections in air holes.

We studied both theoretically and experimentally the additional loss in photonic crystal fiber (PCF) that results from inner surface imperfections such as contamination and the surface roughness of air holes. We estimated the modal loss dependence of these imperfections using a model with a "defective layer" for the first time. The theoretical studies suggest that higher order modes have a larger loss due to imperfections in the air holes. By minimizing the inner surface imperfections of the six innermost air holes, we can theoretically expect any additional loss to be reduced to a negligible level. Moreover, we examined our theoretical prediction experimentally. We fabricated few-mode PCFs by employing a suitable inner surface treatment for just the six innermost holes. As expected theoretically, the transmission loss was greatly reduced by employing these processes. The lowest transmission losses in the 1550 nm band were 0.31 dB/km for the LP01 mode and 0.43 dB/km for the LP11 mode. Our theoretical model will be useful with a view to realizing few-mode PCF with a loss comparable to that of conventional fibers.

PLC-based LP11 mode rotator for mode-division multiplexing transmission.

A PLC-based LP11 mode rotator is proposed. The proposed mode rotator is composed of a waveguide with a trench that provides asymmetry of the waveguide. Numerical simulations show that converting LP11a (LP11b) mode to LP11b (LP11a) mode can be achieved with high conversion efficiency (more than 90%) and little polarization dependence over a wide wavelength range from 1450 nm to 1650 nm. In addition, we fabricate the proposed LP11 mode rotator using silica-based PLC. It is confirmed that the fabricated mode rotator can convert LP11a mode to LP11b mode over a wide wavelength range.

Mode multi/demultiplexing with parallel waveguide for mode division multiplexed transmission.

We propose a planar lightwave circuit (PLC)-based mode multi/demultiplexer (MUX/DEMUX) with an asymmetric parallel waveguide for mode division multiplexed (MDM) transmission. The PLCb-ased mode MUX/DEMUX has advantage of selectively exciting higher-order mode. We realize three-mode (LP(01), LP(11)a, and LP(21)a) multiplexing by using an asymmetric parallel waveguide. We then design and fabricate a PLC-based mode MUX/DEMUX on one chip by using our proposed LP(11) mode rotator to allow us to utilize the LP(11)b mode. We successfully multiplex the LP(01), LP(11)a, and LP(11)b modes and achieve a relatively low insertion loss over the C-band using our fabricated mode MUX/DEMUX. Our results indicate that the PLC-based mode MUX/DEMUX with a uniform height has the potential to increase the mode number by using an LP(11)b mode.

Two-mode PLC-based mode multi/demultiplexer for mode and wavelength division multiplexed transmission.

We proposed a PLC-based mode multi/demultiplexer (MUX/DEMUX) with an asymmetric parallel waveguide for mode division multiplexed (MDM) transmission. The mode MUX/DEMUX including a mode conversion function with an asymmetric parallel waveguide can be realized by matching the effective indices of the LP(01) and LP(11) modes of two waveguides. We report the design of a mode MUX/DEMUX that can support C-band WDM-MDM transmission. The fabricated mode MUX/DEMUX realized a low insertion loss of less than 1.3 dB and high a mode extinction ratio that exceeded 15 dB. We used the fabricated mode MUX/DEMUX to achieve a successful 2 mode x 4 wavelength x 10 Gbps transmission over a 9 km two-mode fiber with a penalty of less than 1 dB.

Launch device using endlessly single-mode PCF for ultra-wideband WDM transmission in graded-index multi-mode fiber.

We demonstrated ultra-wideband wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) transmission from 850 to 1550 nm in graded-index multi-mode fiber (GI-MMF) using endlessly single-mode photonic crystal fiber (ESM-PCF) as a launch device. Effective single-mode guidance is obtained in multi-mode fiber at all wavelengths by splicing cm-order length ESM-PCF to the transmission fiber. We achieved 3 × 10 Gbit/s WDM transmission in a 1 km-long 50-µm-core GI-MMF. We also realized penalty free 10 Gbit/s data transmission at a wavelength of 850 nm by optimizing the PCF structure. This method has the potential to achieve greater total transmission capacity for MMF systems by the addition of more wavelength channels.

Hole-assisted dual concentric core fiber with ultralarge negative dispersion coefficient of -13,200 ps/nm/km.

We propose a dual concentric core fiber (DCCF) with six homogeneous air holes, designed to realize a large negative dispersion coefficient. We clarify numerically that the dispersion property of the proposed DCCF can be controlled flexibly by adjusting the air-hole structure, and we realize the largest reported negative dispersion of -13,200 ps/nm/km experimentally.

Transmission over large-core few-mode photonic crystal fiber using distance-independent modal dispersion compensation technique.

We propose a transmission distance-independent technique for modal dispersion compensation over few-mode fiber that uses a single-input multiple-output configuration and adaptive equalization. Our technique can compensate for the modal dispersion of a signal with 1-tap FIR filters regardless of the amount of modal delay difference, and enables us to utilize fiber with a large core and few modes as a long-haul transmission line. We also show numerically the advantage of few-mode photonic crystal fiber (PCF) for realizing a larger effective area (A(eff)), and finally we report a transmission over a large-core two-mode PCF with A(eff)>280 µm(2).

Observation of a propagation mode of a fiber fuse with a long-period damage track in hole-assisted fiber.

We examined the fiber-fuse propagation characteristics in hole-assisted fibers (HAFs) when the diameter of an inscribed circle linking the air holes was almost the same as the diameter of the melted area caused by the fiber fuse. We observed a new propagation mode for the fiber fuse in HAF with a damage track whose period was approximately 30 times longer than that in conventional single-mode fiber. We also made the first observation of a new threshold power (upper threshold) for the fiber fuse.