Mode-division multiplexed transmission with inline few-mode fiber amplifier

We demonstrate mode-division multiplexed WDM transmission over 50-km of few-mode fiber using the fiber's LP01 and two degenerate LP11 modes. A few-mode EDFA is used to boost the power of the output signal before a few-mode coherent receiver. A 6x6 time-domain MIMO equalizer is used to recover the transmitted data. We also experimentally characterize the 50-km few-mode fiber and the few-mode EDFA. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America