22 September 2023
Sumitomo Electric Launches World¡¯s First Mass-produced Ultra-low Loss, Multi-core Fiber
91³Ô¹Ï has realized the world¡¯s first mass-production of ultra-low loss, multi-core fiber ¡°2C Z-PLUS Fiber? ULL,¡± and will launch its sales in October 2023.
Optical fiber is essential to the infrastructure supporting today¡¯s information and telecommunications network society. With the widespread use of bandwidth-hungry network services including 5G mobile communications and global traffic between large-scale datacenters, it is essential to increase the capacity of optical communication systems. In order to expand transmission capacities further, multi-core fiber (MCF) that has plural cores in a single fiber has been actively studied and highly anticipated as a next-generation fiber.
By applying cutting-edge achievements in MCF R&D activities*1 and low-loss fiber technologies cultivated over 50 years*2, Sumitomo Electric has developed and realized the world¡¯s first mass-production of ultra-low loss MCF ¡°2C Z-PLUS Fiber? ULL*3.¡± While a conventional fiber has a single core in which optical signals propagate, 2C Z-PLUS Fiber? ULL, as the name suggests, has two cores in the same outer dimensions as a conventional fiber. The transmission capacity through the 2C Z-PLUS Fiber? ULL can be expanded twofold compared to a conventional single-core fiber because the two cores can carry optical signals independently. With a transmission loss of typically 0.158 dB/km at 1550 nm, the new fiber can be considered an ultra-low loss fiber (0.16 dB/km or less) applicable to a transoceanic submarine systems. A small counter-propagating inter-core cross-talk*4 of -43 dB or less is guaranteed. Also, 2C Z-PLUS Fiber? ULL has equal outer diameters to a conventional single-core fiber (125 ¦Ìm and 250 ¦Ìm in glass and coating areas, respectively), and holds excellent environmental reliability and mechanical stability.
Table£±¡¡Typical characteristics of 2C Z-PLUS Fiber? ULL
| Glass diameter | 125 ¦Ìm |
| Coating diameter | 250 ¦Ìm |
| Transmission loss, at 1550 nm | 0.158 dB/km |
| Effective area (Aeff), at 1550 nm | 112 ¦Ìm2 |
| Cross-talk in counter-propagation, at C-band |
¡Ü -43 dB |
£¼Applications of 2C Z-PLUS Fiber? ULL£¾
?Broad areas of submarine network systems, from regional to transoceanic distances
?Long-haul, high-capacity terrestrial transmission
?Inter datacenter networks
?Ultra-low loss required applications:
quantum cryptography communications,sensor networks for seismic and fire detection.
Sumitomo Electric will continue to cultivate its world-leading R&D capabilities and mass-production technologies for optical fiber as an essential infrastructure of the information society, contributing to the realization of high-quality optical communications network systems.
*1 Related press releases
?The World's First Field Deployed Multi-Core Fiber Testbed for Optical Communications Installed in L'Aquila, Italy.
?NEC Corporation, OCC Corporation and 91³Ô¹Ï complete first trial of submarine cable with multicore fiber
?Sumitomo Electric and NICT Develop the World's First 19-core Optical Fiber with Standard Outer Diameter and Set New World Record for Transmission Capacity ©`Achieving key technology for beyond 5G long-distance optical communication©`
*2 Sumitomo Electric related page: A 50-Year History of Optical Fibers
/articles/a-50-year-history-of-optical-fibers-part-1
*3 Sumitomo Electric products page
*4 Inter-core cross-talk
A signal interference between cores in MCF, in which a portion of optical signal propagating in one core leaks into another. Cross-talk may degrade the signal quality, thus a smaller value is preferable. There are two types of cross-talks in propagating directions of parallel and counter respectively, as shown in the figure below. In principle, a counter-propagating cross-talk has the smaller value than a parallel-propagating one
