Beijing Engineering Research Centre of Laser Technology, Institute of Laser Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, 100124, Beijing, China.
Laboratory of Optical Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100190, Beijing, China.
Nat Commun. 2018 Jul 19;9(1):2828. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-05225-1.
Countering the optical network 'capacity crunch' calls for a radical development in optical fibres that could simultaneously minimize nonlinearity penalties, chromatic dispersion and maximize signal launch power. Hollow-core fibres (HCF) can break the nonlinear Shannon limit of solid-core fibre and fulfil all above requirements, but its optical performance need to be significantly upgraded before they can be considered for high-capacity telecommunication systems. Here, we report a new HCF with conjoined-tubes in the cladding and a negative-curvature core shape. It exhibits a minimum transmission loss of 2 dB km at 1512 nm and a <16 dB km bandwidth spanning across the O, E, S, C, L telecom bands (1302-1637 nm). The debut of this conjoined-tube HCF, with combined merits of ultralow loss, broad bandwidth, low bending loss, high mode quality and simple structure heralds a new opportunity to fully unleash the potential of HCF in telecommunication applications.
应对光网络“带宽瓶颈”需要在光纤方面实现重大突破，这将同时最小化非线性损耗、色度色散并最大化信号发射功率。空芯光纤（HCF）可以突破实芯光纤的非线性香农极限，并满足所有上述要求，但在考虑用于高容量电信系统之前，其光学性能需要得到显著提升。在这里，我们报告了一种具有套管共轭管和负曲率芯形状的新型 HCF。它在 1512nm 处表现出 2dB/km 的最小传输损耗，在 1302nm-1637nm 的 O、E、S、C、L 电信波段内具有跨越<16dB/km 的带宽。这种新型共轭管 HCF 的问世，结合了超低损耗、宽带宽、低弯曲损耗、高模式质量和简单结构的优点，为充分发挥 HCF 在电信应用中的潜力提供了新的机会。
