Large Effective-Area Few-Mode Multicore Fiber

A design concept of few-mode multicore fiber is presented. Cores with a step-index profile are designed to support two LP modes over the C band and the L band with a large effective area larger than 110 μm
²
. The pitch of cores is determined regarding the inter-core crosstalk related to the LP
₁₁
mode. The two LP modes multicore fibers with four cores and seven cores show a relative core multiplicity factor (RMCF) of 7.3 and 9.2, respectively. The RCMF of the proposed two LP modes multicore fiber is larger than that of previously reported single-mode multicore fibers.