Monolithic mode-selective few-mode multicore fiber multiplexers

With the capacity limits of standard single-mode optical fiber fast approaching, new technologies such as space-division multiplexing are required to avoid an Internet capacity crunch. Few-mode multicore fiber (FM-MCF) could allow for a two orders of magnitude increase in capacity by using the individual spatial modes in the different cores as unique data channels. We report the realization of a monolithic mode-selective few-mode multicore fiber multiplexer capable of addressing the individual modes of such a fiber. These compact multiplexers operate across the S + C + L telecommunications bands and were inscribed into a photonic chip using ultrafast laser inscription. They allow for the simultaneous multiplexing of the LP₀₁, LP_11a and LP_11b modes of all cores in a 3-mode, 4-core fiber with excellent mode extinction ratios and low insertion losses. The devices are scalable to more modes and cores and therefore could represent an enabling technology for practical ultra-high capacity dense space-division multiplexing.