Mode division multiplexing of helical-phased spot mode and donut mode in multimode fiber interconnects

Abstract

With escalating demands for higher throughput in data centers, on-chip optical-interconnects are attractive for parallel chip multiprocessors as they have higher bandwidth and lower power consumption than traditional copper electrical interconnects. This pave the way for silicon photonics in future mega data centers for connecting racks and servers. Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) is currently used beside other multiplexing techniques such as time, code and polarization multiplexing. However, due to the nonlinear effects, the capacity of the optical fiber is limited. Therefore, Mode division multiplexing is a promising technology for meeting future networking requirements, providing scalable bandwidth growth in data centers. This paper presents a mode division multiplexing system from helical-phased spot and donut modes in a MMF using a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) array and a vortex lenses. Data transmission of 14Gbit/s through a 1km-long multimode fiber was numerically simulated.