title: Impact of mode coupling on the mode-dependent loss tolerance in few-mode fiber transmission.
abstract: Spatial-division multiplexing in the form of few-mode fibers has captured the attention of researchers since it is an attractive approach to significantly increase the channel capacity. However, the optical components employed in such systems introduce mode-dependent loss or gain (MDL) due to manufacturing imperfections, leading to significant system impairments. In this work the impact of MDL from optical amplifiers in few-mode fibers with either weak or strong mode coupling is analyzed for a 3x136-Gbit/s DP-QPSK mode-division multiplexed transmission system. It is shown that strong mode coupling reduces the impact of MDL in a similar manner as that polarization-dependent loss is reduced in single mode fibers by polarization-mode dispersion.
authors: University of Federal Armed Forces Munich, Werner-Heisenberg-Weg 39, 85577 Neubiberg, Germany. adriana.lobato@unibw.de
authors: Adriana
authors: A
authors: Lobato
authors: Filipe
authors: F
authors: Ferreira
authors: Maxim
authors: M
authors: Kuschnerov
authors: Dirk
authors: D
authors: van den Borne
authors: Sander L
authors: SL
authors: Jansen
authors: Antonio
authors: A
authors: Napoli
authors: Bernhard
authors: B
authors: Spinnler
authors: Berthold
authors: B
authors: Lankl