Crosstalk Limitations due to Intercore Coupling on the BER Performance of an Optical Communication System with Homogeneous Multi-core Fiber

Abstract

Abstract The effect of crosstalk due to inter-core coupling on the bit error rate (BER) performance of a fiber optic communication link with a homogeneous multi-core optical fiber (MCF) and a direct detection receiver with optical preamplifier is analytically evaluated and presented in this paper. Coupling coefficients due to inter-core coupling in a 7-core MCF is evaluated numerically with as a function of core-to-core distance (pitch) and relative refractive index contrast. Coupling length is determined against various index contrasts and at different core pitches. Crosstalk power, Signal to Crosstalk plus Noise Ratio (SCNR), BER and power penalty at any output core with light launched into other core of a 7-core MCF are determined analytically. The results show that there is mentionable deterioration in BER performance due to coupling induced crosstalk, and system suffers distinct power penalty at a given BER. For example, power penalty at BER of 10e-9 is found to be 4.0 dB and 4.3 dB for a MCF link of 10 km corresponding to relative refractive index difference of 0.0036 and 0.0030, respectively, for a pitch value of 30 µm and core radius of 4.5 µm.