Multicore Fibers

Abstract

Optical fibers, especially the silica single mode fibers (SMFs), play essential roles in building the infrastructure of information technology. However, with the great development of Internet services like cloud computing, HD video, and virtual reality, the current optical fiber communication system based on SMF is suffering from severe burden of sharp burst of capacity. The space division multiplexing (SDM), which multiplexes the information in the spatial degree, is able to increase the capacity greatly. Among the SDM techniques, the multicore fiber (MCF)-based SDM transmission system has broken the current system’s capacity records again and again. The design, manufacturing, testing, connection, and application of MCFs compatible with the state-of-the-art fiber/telecom industry are indispensable to investigate. This chapter mainly considers the all-solid silica-based MCF in which all the cores are shared by a single cladding. After the introduction of general description regarding the SDM oriented MCF, detailed information is given about the design, fabrication, and parameter optimization of MCF for efficient data transmission. The advances of highly efficient fan-in/fan-out coupling and splicing techniques for MCF are also reviewed. Recent demonstrations of MCF-enabled fiber transmission experiments are discussed, including the record long-haul large capacity transmission, fiber-radio convergent access system, high speed passive optical network, and real-time data-center interconnections. Finally, the MCF-based SDM fiber sensing technology developed very recently is summarized as a promising solution toward real-world application of fiber sensing.