Space-division multiplexing in optical fibres

Optical communication technology has been advancing rapidly for several decades, supporting our increasingly information-driven society and economy. Much of this progress has been in finding innovative ways to increase the data-carrying capacity of a single optical fibre. To achieve this, researchers have explored and attempted to optimize multiplexing in time, wavelength, polarization and phase. Commercial systems now utilize all four dimensions to send more information through a single fibre than ever before. The spatial dimension has, however, remained untapped in single fibres, despite it being possible to manufacture fibres supporting hundreds of spatial modes or containing multiple cores, which could be exploited as parallel channels for independent signals.