Characterization and comparison of 7-core and 19-core large-mode-area few-mode fibers

Abstract

A novel multi-core large-mode-area few-mode fiber (MC-LMA-FMF) is proposed in this paper. The special structure of air holes makes it operate in few modes (HE11 and HE21 mode only). Numerical analysis shows that the 7-core-LMA-FMF can maintain a stable dual-mode operation and the effective area of the fundamental mode can reach 866.54 μm2. The regular pattern that fiber structure parameters affect mode characteristics and the effective area is investigated, and the similarities and differences brought in by increasing the number of cores is also analyzed. The advanced 19-core-LMA-FMF inherits the few-mode characteristic, meanwhile, the effective area of the fundamental mode can be as high as 3617.55 μm2. Compared with the reported few-mode fibers, MC-LMA-FMF obtains a large effective area and good bending characteristics. These advantages enable this new type of fiber to be a potential candidate for high-speed large-capacity optical fiber transmission systems or high power fiber amplifiers and lasers.