Ultra-compact and low-loss pixelated mode (de)-multiplexer for mode-division multiplexed coherent-lite optical interconnects
TL;DR
An ultra-compact, low-loss pixelated four-TE-mode (de)multiplexer with sub-1 dB insertion loss for all modes at 1550 nm, enabling net 1.09 Tb/s/λ SCM-32QAM transmission across 16 wavelengths in mode-division-multiplexed coherent-lite optical interconnects.
Highlights
- Inverse-designed pixelated four-TE-mode (de)MUX, 6 × 6 µm², 120 nm minimum feature
- All-mode insertion loss < 1 dB and crosstalk < −14 dB at 1.55 µm
- 4 modes × 65-GBaud SCM-32QAM over 16 wavelengths; 64 channels NGMI > 0.8798; net 1.09 Tb/s/λ
- Coherent-lite scheme: only a local oscillator added, avoiding IQ modulators and balanced detectors
Citation
A. Sun*, H. Tan*, X. Deng* et al., "Ultra-compact and low-loss pixelated mode (de)-multiplexer for mode-division multiplexed coherent-lite optical interconnects," OFC 2025, San Francisco, Mar. 2025.