Fabrication and Characterization of a Mode-selective 45-Mode Spatial Multiplexer based on Multi-Plane Light Conversion

TL;DR

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and characterization of a 45-mode spatial multiplexer/demultiplexer using Multi-Plane Light Conversion, enabling efficient mode control for space division multiplexing in multi-mode fibers.

Contribution

It introduces a novel MPLC-based 45-mode multiplexer/demultiplexer with reduced losses and crosstalk, advancing multi-mode fiber communication technology.

Findings

Achieved 4 dB average insertion loss across C band

Demonstrated -28 dB mode crosstalk levels

Enabled exploration of mode propagation and crosstalk in fibers

Abstract

Space Division Multiplexing (SMD) is a very attractive technique for addressing the ever-growing demands in transmission capacity by enabling the use of a new parameter \textemdash\ space \textemdash\ to increase the number of channels in multi-mode fibers. One key component to build a spatially multiplexed-based optical network is a spatial multiplexer and demultiplexer combining signals from multiple single-mode fibers into as many channels in a multi-mode fiber. In this article, we report the fabrication and characterization of a pair of 45-mode spatial multiplexer and demultiplexer saturating all the modes of a standard 50~$\mu$m core graded-index (OM2) multi-mode fiber. The multiplexers are based on Multi-Plane Light Conversion (MPLC), a technique that enables the control of the transverse shape of the light by multiple reflections on specifically designed phase plates. We show that by using a separable variable basis of modes, such as Hermite-Gaussian (HG) modes, we are able to drastically reduce the number of reflections hence reducing the insertion losses and modal crosstalks. The multiplexers typically show an average 4~dB insertion loss and -28~dB cross-talk across the C band. Finally, we emphasize the use of this higher-order modes multiplexer to explore the propagation properties inside multi-mode fibers and more specifically the mode group crosstalks as well as the impact of fiber bending.