Design and optimization of a large mode field, low crosstalk homogeneous six-core photonic crystal fiber

Abstract

Multi-core fiber is one of the important application technologies for space division multiplexing. This paper proposes and designs a large mode field, low crosstalk homogeneous six-core photonic crystal fiber. The method of controlling a single variable is employed to ascertain the crosstalk of the fiber and the variation curve of the effective mode field area, while optimizing the parameters by varying the structural parameters using the full vector finite element method. The performance of the fiber with optimized parameters in terms of bending, dispersion, confinement loss, and electric field strength is calculated and analyzed. At a wavelength of 1550 nm, the crosstalk and effective mode field area following the optimization of structural parameters are -51.6 dB and 341 μm², respectively; The minimum level of crosstalk is -63.9 dB when the bending radius is 1.00 cm; The dispersion values are as low as -6062 ps/nm/km; The limiting loss is a maximum of 0.00532 dB/km; The electric field strength of each core in the radial and axial directions of the fiber is considerable and uniformly distributed. Compared with similar multi-core fibers, the large mode field, low-loss homogeneous six-core photonic crystal fiber designed in this paper has better performance in terms of bending, dispersion, limiting loss, and electric field strength. The design of this structure provides a useful reference scheme for optical communication networks as well as fiber optic device development.