We design and fabricate a novel multicore fiber (MCF), with seven cores arranged in a hexagonal array. The fiber properties of MCF including low crosstalk, attenuation and splice loss are described. A new tapered MCF connector (TMC), showing ultra-low crosstalk and losses, is also designed and fabricated for coupling the individual signals in-and-out of the MCF. We further propose a novel network configuration using parallel transmissions with the MCF and TMC for passive optical network (PON). To the best of our knowledge, we demonstrate the first bi-directional parallel transmissions of 1310 nm and 1490 nm signals over 11.3-km of seven-core MCF with 64-way splitter for PON.

We describe a new multicore fiber (MCF) having seven single-mode cores arranged in a hexagonal array, exhibiting low crosstalk among the cores and low loss across the C and L bands. We experimentally demonstrate a record transmission capacity of 112 Tb/s over a 76.8-km MCF using space-division multiplexing and dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM). Each core carries 160 107-Gb/s polarization-division multiplexed quadrature phase-shift keying (PDM-QPSK) channels on a 50-GHz grid in the C and L bands, resulting in an aggregate spectral efficiency of 14 b/s/Hz. We further investigate the impact of the inter-core crosstalk on a 107-Gb/s PDM-QPSK signal after transmitting through the center core of the MCF when all the 6 outer cores carry same-wavelength 107-Gb/s signals with equal powers, and discuss the system implications of core-to-core crosstalk on ultra-long-haul transmission.

We demonstrate robust single-transverse-mode light propagation in higher-order modes of a fiber, with effective area A(eff) ranging from 2,100 to 3,200 microm(2). These modes are accessed using long-period fiber gratings that enable higher-order-mode excitation over a bandwidth of 94 mm with greater than 99% of the light in the desired mode. The fiber is designed such that the effective index separation between modes is always large, hence minimizing in-fiber mode mixing and enabling light propagation over lengths as large as 12 m, with bends down to 4.5 cm radii. The modal stability increases with mode order, suggesting that A(eff) of this platform is substantially scalable.

A cladding pumped multicore erbium-doped fiber amplifier for simultaneous amplification of 6 channels is demonstrated. Peak gain over 32 dB has been obtained at a wavelength of 1560 nm and the bandwidth measured at 20-dB gain was about 35 nm. Numerical modeling of cladding pumped multicore erbium-doped amplifier was also performed to study the properties of the amplifier. The results of experiment and simulation are found to be in good agreement.

Hollow-core fibre (HCF) is a powerful technology platform offering breakthrough performance improvements in sensing, communications, higher-power pulse delivery and other applications. Free from the usual constraints on what materials can guide light, it promises qualitatively new and ideal operating regimes: precision signals transmitted free of nonlinearities, sensors that guide light directly in the samples they are meant to probe and so on. However, these fibres have not been widely adopted, largely because uncontrolled coupling between transverse and polarization modes overshadows their benefits. To deliver on their promises, HCFs must retain their unique properties while achieving the modal and polarization control that are essential for their most compelling applications. Here we present the first single-moded, polarization-maintaining HCF with large core size needed for loss scaling. Single modedness is achieved using a novel scheme for resonantly coupling out unwanted modes, whereas birefringence is engineered by fabricating an asymmetrical glass web surrounding the core.