Reflective metasurface connector for high-density and wideband space-division multiplexing

In this work, a reflective metasurface connector (RMC) and its application for high-density and wideband space-division multiplexing (SDM) are demonstrated. This device features single facet metasurface fabrication over an SOI platform based on a CMOS compatible process. A minimum fiber-to-fiber insertion loss of 2.9 dB at 1598.24 nm is realized for fan-in-fan-out (FIFO) applications between a single-mode fiber (SMF) array and a multicore fiber (MCF). A device size of only 0.635 mm ×0.127 mm ×1 mm is obtained for this device, due to the reflective design over high contrast ratio SOI process, which makes this device highly useful for high-density packaging with great potential for low-cost volume production. The single facet design also features a simple packaging advantage with one-step coupling between the RMC and fiber-array unit. The 3 dB bandwidth of the device can reach at least 120 nm, covering S, C, L, and U wavebands. The SDM transmission of single wavelength 4×160 Gb /s is experimentally realized at 1525, 1550, 1600, and 1630 nm wavelengths, indicating an aggregated capacity of 2.56 Tb/s (160 Gb/s ×4×4) for four-core MCF transmission.