Misalignment Losses in Step-Index Multicore Plastic Optical Fibers

We analyze the extrinsic coupling losses due to misalignments in three different SI-MCPOFs. Four kinds of misalignments are analyzed: longitudinal separation, transversal offset angular misalignment and rotational misalignment. We have performed experimental measurements and complementary computational simulations to assess the effect of misalignments and the influence of crosstalk and fiber characteristics on coupling losses.