Abstract
Countering the optical network ‘capacity crunch’ calls for a radical development in optical fibres that could simultaneously minimize nonlinearity penalties, chromatic dispersion and maximize signal launch power. Hollow-core fibres (HCF) can break the nonlinear Shannon limit of solid-core fibre and fulfil all above requirements, but its optical performance need to be significantly upgraded before they can be considered for high-capacity telecommunication systems. Here, we report a new HCF with conjoined-tubes in the cladding and a negative-curvature core shape. It exhibits a minimum transmission loss of 2 dB km−1 at 1512 nm and a <16 dB km−1 bandwidth spanning across the O, E, S, C, L telecom bands (1302–1637 nm). The debut of this conjoined-tube HCF, with combined merits of ultralow loss, broad bandwidth, low bending loss, high mode quality and simple structure heralds a new opportunity to fully unleash the potential of HCF in telecommunication applications.
Highlights
Countering the optical network ‘capacity crunch’ calls for a radical development in optical fibres that could simultaneously minimize nonlinearity penalties, chromatic dispersion and maximize signal launch power
While an optical loss level of 0.14 dB km−1 remains sustainable in present long-haul transmission systems and chromatic dispersion can be compensated by dispersion mapping, bulk material nonlinearity represents a more fundamental obstacle for capacity scaling, known as the nonlinear Shannon limit[3,4]
Hope has recently resurged with the emergence of hollow-core negative-curvature fibres (HC-NCFs)[19], which originate from the Kagome-type broadband Hollow-core fibres (HCF) in 200220
Summary
Countering the optical network ‘capacity crunch’ calls for a radical development in optical fibres that could simultaneously minimize nonlinearity penalties, chromatic dispersion and maximize signal launch power. We report a new HCF with conjoined-tubes in the cladding and a negativecurvature core shape It exhibits a minimum transmission loss of 2 dB km−1 at 1512 nm and a
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