0.61 Pb/s S, C, and L-Band Transmission in a 125μm Diameter 4-Core Fiber Using a Single Wideband Comb Source

Abstract

We investigate high-throughput, multi-band transmission in a 4-core multi-core fiber (MCF) with the same 125 μm cladding diameter of standard single-mode fiber (SMF). A single wideband comb source is used to transmit up to 561 wavelength channels with 25 GHz spacing over a 120 nm bandwidth in S, C, and L bands. We demonstrate a maximum decoded throughput of 610 Tb/s in PDM-256QAM and PDM-64QAM signals over a 54 km fiber, transmitting more than 155 Tb/s in a single core and measuring a per-core average throughput exceeding record transmission demonstrations in SMF. In addition, we use noise loading measurements to characterize the achievable signal quality across the wideband transmitter. These results show that a single comb source can enable high-spectral efficiency modulation over wide bandwidths and further that low-core count homogeneous MCF technology can offer the same transmission performance as single-mode fibers without sacrificing mechanical reliability, and still offering the benefits of shared resources and greater efficiency that drives SDM technologies.