Dispersion Behavior of Fundamental Supermodes in Homogeneous Strongly Coupled Multicore Optical Fibers for Different Core Counts and Layouts

In this paper, dispersion behavior of fundamental supermode in homogeneous strongly-coupled multicore fibers (SC-MCFs) have been investigated using the finite element method based simulation platform and MATLAB. Further, to observe the impacts of core count and core layout on the dispersion behavior of fundamental supermode, the core count and layout dependent dispersion behavior have been investigated. The different core layouts considered are namely, linear, triangular, square, rectangular, square lattice structure (SLS), circular and hexagonal one ring structure (ORS) and circular dual ring structure (DRS), while the different core counts are 3-Core, 4-Core, 6-Core, and 12-Core. It has been observed that the core layouts of homogeneous SC-MCFs with the closely packed structures for the different core counts have the lowest value of |D(λ)|_max (magnitude of maximum dispersion), as compared to the other layouts. Moreover, it has been observed that in some of the core layouts, such as 4-Core square, 6-Core circular, and 12-Core circular DRS, the dispersion behaviors are nearly flat over a certain wavelength range, which is desirable for the high speed DWDM applications. Therefore, the analysis presented in this paper may be useful for the selection of core layouts in homogeneous SC-MCF with significantly low dispersion level or the flattened dispersion behavior.