Multimode delay compensation in fibers with profile distortions

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Fiber Optics Communications

Background:

• Multimode fibers (MMFs) are crucial for optical communication.
• Power-law index profiles are theoretically optimal for MMF bandwidth.
• Deviations from ideal profiles, like sinusoidal fluctuations, degrade performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of sinusoidal perturbations on MMF bandwidth.
• To explore methods for mitigating bandwidth degradation caused by profile imperfections.
• To determine if phase manipulation of perturbations can compensate for dispersion.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical analysis of MMFs with perturbed power-law index profiles.
• Mathematical modeling of signal propagation and modal dispersion.
• Simulation of bandwidth performance under various perturbation conditions.

Main Results:

• Sinusoidal fluctuations drastically reduce MMF bandwidth.
• Phase reversal of sinusoidal fluctuations at the fiber midpoint offers substantial dispersion compensation.
• Varying perturbation phases along the fiber length reduces bandwidth degradation.

Conclusions:

• Ideal power-law profiles are sensitive to perturbations.
• Strategic manipulation of perturbation phases, such as phase reversal, can significantly improve MMF bandwidth.
• Fiber profile engineering with controlled phase variations is key for high-performance MMFs.