Empowering high-dimensional optical fiber communications with integrated photonic processors

Area of Science:

• Optical Communications
• Photonics
• Fiber Optics

Background:

• Mode-division multiplexing (MDM) enhances optical fiber capacity for data transmission, quantum networks, imaging, and sensing.
• Traditional MDM systems require complex bulk-optics and electronic signal processing to manage modal crosstalk and scrambling.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a high-dimensional optical fiber communication system using a reconfigurable integrated photonic processor.
• To implement multichannel mode multiplexing and all-optical descrambling for efficient MDM.

Main Methods:

• Developed a reconfigurable integrated photonic processor with dedicated transmitter and receiver kernels.
• Configured an integrated optical mesh for effective management of optical modes.
• Achieved inter-chip MDM communication utilizing six spatial and polarization modes.

Main Results:

• Successfully demonstrated inter-chip MDM optical communications over a circular-core optical fiber.
• Showcased effective mode management and all-optical descrambling despite unknown mode mixing and polarization rotation.
• Validated the performance of the integrated photonic approach in a high-dimensional fiber system.

Conclusions:

• Integrated photonic processors offer a viable solution for high-dimensional MDM optical communication systems.
• The proposed approach simplifies MDM by enabling all-optical mode management and descrambling.
• This technology holds significant promise for future space-division multiplexing applications.