The Role of Effective Area in the Design of Weakly Coupled MCF: Optimization Guidance and OSNR Improvement

We propose a propagation model for the weakly coupled multicore fiber (MCF), taking into account crosstalk random behavior with respect to both frequency and spatial distribution. Based on the analytical model, the effect of crosstalk on the MCF transmission can be treated as a Gaussian-like noise source, independent of amplified spontaneous emission noise and nonlinear interference (NLI) noise. Consequently, we link the modified GN model with the waveguide design of weakly coupled MCF, in order to evaluate the transmission performance in terms of received optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR). Especially, we investigate the role of MCF effective area on the transmission performance with balanced mitigation of both NLI noise and crosstalk. Based on the reported MCF parameters, we are able to improve the OSNR by 1 dB, only through increasing the trench width by 1.6 μm.