Mode crosstalk matrix measurement of a 1 km elliptical core few-mode optical fiber.

The spatial modes of a 1 km elliptical core few-mode optical fiber (6 spatial modes) are analyzed by using liquid crystal on silicon spatial light modulators to measure the fiber's mode crosstalk matrix in Hermite-Gaussian, Laguerre-Gaussian, and linearly polarized spatial mode bases. It is shown that the fiber's spatial modes can be described by Hermite-Gaussian modes, which can propagate 1 km over the optical fiber with <-20  dB (1%) average mode crosstalk even when the fiber has multiple 1 cm diameter bends. The use of elliptical core few-mode optical fibers for space division multiplexing in data centers is discussed.