Open AccessPerspectives of principal mode transmission in mode-division-multiplex operation
Author(s) -
Adrian A. Juarez,
Christian-Alexander Bunge,
Stefan Warm,
K. Petermann
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.20.013810
Subject(s) - optics , modal , multiplexing , mode coupling , multi mode optical fiber , modal dispersion , physics , single mode optical fiber , electronic engineering , computer science , optical fiber , telecommunications , materials science , dispersion shifted fiber , engineering , fiber optic sensor , polymer chemistry
We investigate the concept of principal modes and its application for mode division multiplexing in multimode fibers. We start by generalizing the formalism of the principal modes as to include mode dependent loss and show that principal modes overcome modal dispersion induced by modal coupling in mode division multiplexing operation, even for multi-mode-fibers guiding a large number of modes, if the product of modulation bandwidth, fiber length and differential group delay is equal or less than one in each transmission channel. If this condition is not sustained, modal dispersion and crosstalk at the receiver limit the transmission performance, setting very high constraints towards modal coupling.