Research

High-speed Data Transmission Over Multimode Optical Fiber

With the proliferation of triple-play (i.e., voice, data, and streaming video) into the customer premises, fiber to the X (FTTX) is becoming not only a reality but necessity, and so are the enabling technologies that allow low cost access to high optical bandwidth. Aside from its bigger core dimension (compared with its single mode counterpart) which makes alignment and installation easier, multimode fiber (MMF) are also designed to work with other lower cost optical transceivers. Moreover, large quantities of it have been installed in the late 1980s in office buildings, with its potential bandwidth waiting to be utilized. Different standardization groups have come up with different strategies to capture this potentially substantial market (e.g. IEEE 802.3ae, IEEE 802.3aq). The challenge here is to allow high data rate applications (10 Gb/s or above) over short reaches (< 500 m) to satisfy the current needs of local area networks. By accurately understanding the fundamental propagation physics on a device level behind this class of multimode waveguide and applying clever engineering (pre/ post compensation in the optical or electrical domain), new bandwidth-distance records in this field have been achieved.

Optical Fiber Sensors

Optical sensors have played an essential role in our daily life. For example, fluorence detection in microfluidic channels has allowed massive parallelism in the decoding of the human genome . Interferometers are indispensible in the semiconductor fabrication process , where accurate, repeatable and high-resolution wavers measurement are crucial in device yield and performance. In each case, optical sensors are integrated into application-specific platform to achieve robust, high-resolution and repeatable measurement and control. We propose to use optical fiber sensors as such a platform and tailor their integration with various relevant industrial applications such as contaminant detection and sensing.

Last Updated: 16th of April 2020

Copyright © 2008 Scott Yam