1.12-Tb/s 32-QAM-OFDM superchannel with 8.6-b/s/Hz intrachannel spectral efficiency and space-division multiplexed transmission with 60-b/s/Hz aggregate spectral efficiency

We demonstrate the generation of a 1.12-Tb/s superchannel based on coherent optical orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing with polarization-division multiplexed 32-QAM subcarriers, achieving a net intrachannel-spectral-efficiency (ISE) of 8.6 b/s/Hz. Using space-division multiplexing (SDM), we transmit this superchannel over a 76.8-km low-crosstalk multi-core-fiber (MCF) with a record aggregate ISE of 60 b/s/Hz per fiber. We also discuss the impact of core-to-core crosstalk on transmission performance, as well as future perspectives of MCF-based SDM transmission. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America