Confined beam-bending for direct connections between different multicore fibers

A 90° silica-glass confined beam-bending device with a bending-radius of 160μm is numerically demonstrated. The device allows for direct space-division connections among single-mode cores of different multi-core and/ or single-core fibers without a need for special spot-size converters or mode tapers. The device can also be cascaded to maneuver beams around sharp corners in three-dimensional space to establish flexible connections within small areas. An example of universal multicore connector among different multicore and single-core fibers is numerically demonstrated. The device simulations show wideband operation over the S, C, L, and U wavelength range with small insertion-loss, polarization-dependent loss, in addition to reasonable return-loss.