Multimode and single-mode fiber compatible graded-index multicore fiber for high density optical interconnect...

Area of Science:

• Optical Engineering
• Telecommunications

Background:

• High-density optical interconnects are crucial for large-scale data centers.
• Existing fiber solutions face limitations in supporting diverse transmission requirements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and fabricate a graded-index multicore fiber (GI-MCF) compatible with standard single-mode and multimode fibers.
• To enable high-density optical interconnects for large-scale data centers.

Main Methods:

• Optimized GI-MCF parameters for reduced differential mode delay and mode field diameter mismatch.
• Fabricated and experimentally validated the GI-MCF for multimode and quasi-single mode transmission.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated 1 km multimode transmission at 850 nm and 12.4 km quasi-single mode transmission at 1310/1550 nm.
• Achieved data rates of 7x10 Gb/s with negligible inter-core crosstalk.
• Successfully demonstrated multi-wavelengths multicore transmission for the first time.

Conclusions:

• The proposed GI-MCF meets data center requirements for wavelength, distance, and density.
• This fiber technology can significantly reduce fiber count and system complexity in data centers.