Moshe Tur

Terabit-Scale Orbital Angular Momentum Mode Division Multiplexing in Fibers

A Twist on the Capacity Crunch The rate at which data can be transmitted down optic fibers is approaching a limit because of nonlinear optical effects. Multiplexing allows data to be encoded in different modes of light such as polarization, wavelength, amplitude, and phase and to be sent down the fibers in parallel. Optical angular momentum (OAM) can provide another degree of freedom whereby the photons are given a well-defined twist or helicity. Bozinovic et al. (p. 1545) were able to transmit high-bandwidth data using OAM modes in long lengths of optical fibers, thus providing a possible route to get yet more capacity through optic fiber networks. Encoding data in the twist, or helicity, of photons provides a route to increase optical communication rates in fibers. Internet data traffic capacity is rapidly reaching limits imposed by optical fiber nonlinear effects. Having almost exhausted available degrees of freedom to orthogonally multiplex data, the possibility is now being explored of using spatial modes of fibers to enhance data capacity. We demonstrate the viability of using the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of light to create orthogonal, spatially distinct streams of data-transmitting channels that are multiplexed in a single fiber. Over 1.1 kilometers of a specially designed optical fiber that minimizes mode coupling, we achieved 400-gigabits-per-second data transmission using four angular momentum modes at a single wavelength, and 1.6 terabits per second using two OAM modes over 10 wavelengths. These demonstrations suggest that OAM could provide an additional degree of freedom for data multiplexing in future fiber networks.

Fiber-optic lattice signal processing

We discuss the implementation of fiber-optic lattice structures incorporating single-mode fibers and directional couplers. These fiber structures can be used to perform various high-speed time-domain and frequency-domain functions such as matrix operations and frequency filtering. In this paper we mainly consider systems in which the signals (optical intensities) and coupling coefficients are nonnegative quantities; these systems fit well in the theory of positive systems. We use this theory to conclude, for example, that for such systems the pole of the system transfer function with the largest magnitude is simple and positive-valued (in the Z-plane), and that the magnitude of the frequency response can nowhere exceed its value at the origin. We also discuss the effects of various noise phenomena on the performance of fiber-optic signal processors, particularly considering the effects of laser source phase fluctuations. Experimental results are presented showing that the dynamic range of the fiber systems, discussed in this paper, is limited, not by the laser source intensity noise or shot noise, but by the laser phase-induced intensity noise. Mathematical analyses of lattice structures as well as additional applications are also presented.

Optical communications using orbital angular momentum beams

Orbital angular momentum (OAM), which describes the “phase twist” (helical phase pattern) of light beams, has recently gained interest due to its potential applications in many diverse areas. Particularly promising is the use of OAM for optical communications since: (i) coaxially propagating OAM beams with different azimuthal OAM states are mutually orthogonal, (ii) inter-beam crosstalk can be minimized, and (iii) the beams can be efficiently multiplexed and demultiplexed. As a result, multiple OAM states could be used as different carriers for multiplexing and transmitting multiple data streams, thereby potentially increasing the system capacity. In this paper, we review recent progress in OAM beam generation/detection, multiplexing/demultiplexing, and its potential applications in different scenarios including free-space optical communications, fiber-optic communications, and RF communications. Technical challenges and perspectives of OAM beams are also discussed.

Coherence multiplexing of fiber-optic interferometric sensors

This paper describes a method of multiplexing several optical signals onto a single spatial channel (e.g., a single-mode fiber) using a short coherence length continuous wave light source. Several system configurations which utilize this technique are proposed, and some design considerations are discussed. Experimental results for a single sensor and receiver are presented and compared with theoretical predictions.

100 Tbit/s free-space data link enabled by three-dimensional multiplexing of orbital angular momentum, polarization, and wavelength

We investigate the orthogonality of orbital angular momentum (OAM) with other multiplexing domains and present a free-space data link that uniquely combines OAM-, polarization-, and wavelength-division multiplexing. Specifically, we demonstrate the multiplexing/demultiplexing of 1008 data channels carried on 12 OAM beams, 2 polarizations, and 42 wavelengths. Each channel is encoded with 100 Gbit/s quadrature phase-shift keying data, providing an aggregate capacity of 100.8 Tbit/s (12×2×42×100 Gbit/s).

Vector analysis of stimulated Brillouin scattering amplification in standard single-mode fibers.

The polarization properties of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) amplification or attenuation in standard single-mode fibers are examined through vectorial analysis, simulation and experiment. Vector propagation equations for the signal wave, incorporating SBS and birefringence, are derived and analyzed in both the Jones and Stokes spaces. The analysis shows that in the undepleted pump regime, the fiber may be regarded as a polarization-dependent gain (or loss) medium, having two orthogonal input SOPs, and corresponding two orthogonal output SOPs, for the signal, which, respectively, provide the signal with maximum and minimum SBS amplification (or attenuation). Under high Brillouin gain conditions and excluding zero-probability cases, the output SOP of arbitrarily polarized input signals, would tend to converge towards that of maximum SBS gain. In the case of high SBS attenuation the output SOP of an arbitrarily polarized signal would approach the output SOP corresponding to minimum attenuation. It is found that for a wide range of practical pump powers ( < or = 100mW) and for sufficiently long fibers with typical SBS and birefringence parameters, the signal aligned for maximum SBS interaction will enter/emerge from the fiber with its electric field closely tracing the same ellipse in space as that of the pump at the corresponding side of the fiber, albeit with the opposite sense of rotation. The analytic predictions are experimentally demonstrated for both Stokes (amplification) and anti-Stokes (attenuation) signals.

Solution paths to limit interferometric noise induced performance degradation in ASK/direct detection lightwave networks

Interferometric noise, arising on the optical interference of the desired information signal and parasitic crosstalk waveforms at the photodetector, afflicts practically all lightwave communication networks, inducing unacceptable power penalties and bit error rate floors. In this paper, the induced performance degradation is quantified, both experimentally and analytically, and solution paths are identified. It is concluded that the total crosstalk level of noise generating parasitics in a generalized optical network must be held below -25 dB for a penalty of less than 1 dB-a further 2 to 4 dB may lead to network failure; otherwise, means of suppressing the noise by RF rejection at the receiver must be invoked. A number of approaches to achieving a reduction in the level of interferometric noise are presented and contrasted.

Fast brillouin optical time domain analysis for dynamic sensing

A new technique for the fast implementation of Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis (BOTDA) is proposed and demonstrated, carrying the classical BOTDA method to the dynamic sensing domain. By using a digital signal generator which enables fast switching among 100 scanning frequencies, we demonstrate a truly distributed and dynamic measurement of a 100 m long fiber with a sampling rate of ~10 kHz, limited only by the fiber length and the frequency granularity. With 10 averages the standard deviation of the measured strain was ~5 µε.

Slope-assisted fast distributed sensing in optical fibers with arbitrary Brillouin profile

We present a novel method, based on stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS), for the simultaneous distributed measurement of fast strain variations along the entire length of the sensing fiber. A specially synthesized and adaptable probe wave is used to place the Brillouin interaction always on the slope of the local Brillouin gain spectrum, allowing a single pump pulse to sample fast strain variations along the full length of a fiber with an arbitrary distribution of the Brillouin frequency shift. In this early demonstration of the method, strain vibrations of a few hundred Hz are demonstrated, simultaneously measured on two different sections of an 85 m long fiber, having different static Brillouin shifts and with a spatial resolution of 1.5 m.

Mode division multiplexing using an orbital angular momentum mode sorter and MIMO-DSP over a graded-index few-mode optical fibre

Mode division multiplexing (MDM)– using a multimode optical fiber’s N spatial modes as data channels to transmit N independent data streams – has received interest as it can potentially increase optical fiber data transmission capacity N-times with respect to single mode optical fibers. Two challenges of MDM are (1) designing mode (de)multiplexers with high mode selectivity (2) designing mode (de)multiplexers without cascaded beam splitting’s 1/N insertion loss. One spatial mode basis that has received interest is that of orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes. In this paper, using a device referred to as an OAM mode sorter, we show that OAM modes can be (de)multiplexed over a multimode optical fiber with higher than −15 dB mode selectivity and without cascaded beam splitting’s 1/N insertion loss. As a proof of concept, the OAM modes of the LP11 mode group (OAM−1,0 and OAM+1,0), each carrying 20-Gbit/s polarization division multiplexed and quadrature phase shift keyed data streams, are transmitted 5km over a graded-index, few-mode optical fibre. Channel crosstalk is mitigated using 4 × 4 multiple-input-multiple-output digital-signal-processing with <1.5 dB power penalties at a bit-error-rate of 2 × 10−3.