Multicore optical fiber with multimode cores

摘要

Multicore optical fibers that include between two and ten multimode cores surrounded by a cladding matrix and symmetrically arranged about a fiber axis are disclosed, with no core running along the fiber axis. The cores include a trench to stabilize delays of the higher order modes, which tend to propagate faster than do the central modes due to the amount of power at the core-clad interface. The trench also suppresses crosstalk and power leakage. The core configuration promotes efficient optical alignment and optical coupling with other multicore optical fibers or light sources, such as VSCEL and silicon-photonics light sources.

主权项

1. A multicore optical fiber, comprising:
a cladding matrix that defines a fiber axis and has a diameter DM in the range 120 μm≦DM≦220 μm; a plurality of N multimode cores wherein 2≦N≦10, with each core surrounded by the cladding matrix and having a central core axis that runs generally parallel to the fiber axis, the multimode cores being symmetrically arranged about the fiber axis with their central core axes at a radial distance RC and with no core running along the fiber axis and having a core pitch CP in the range 30 μm≦CP≦60 μm, with each multimode core having a core diameter dCO in the range 20 μm≦dCO≦40 μm, a core α in the range 1.9≦α≦2.2 and a maximum core Δ of Δ0 in the range 0.6%≦Δ0≦1.9%; and wherein each multimode core includes an inner core having a radius rCI in the range 6 μm≦rCI≦18 μm, the inner core being surrounded by a trench having a relative refractive index ΔT in the range −0.7%≦ΔT≦0.1% and a width δrT in the range 1 μm≦δrT≦6 μm, and wherein the trench is separated from the inner core by an inner cladding having a width δrICL in the range 0.5 μm≦δrICL≦2 μm.