Spatial-light-modulator-based optical-fiber joint switch for few-mode multicore fibers

To realize simplified cost-efficient optical networks with routing flexibility and scaling potential, a spatial-light-modulator-based optical-fiber joint switch for few-mode multicore fibers is proposed herein, which can route all spatial channels together as a unit. Numerical simulations and experiments were performed, and the results show that the signal paths for a 6-mode 19-core fiber can be simultaneously switched to the target output ports using the proposed method, and the mode-field patterns of the diffracted light can be maintained after joint switching. Further, the maximum port crosstalk can be reduced considerably from -11.6 to -25.1 dB by changing the position of the output port in the proposed method.