Abstract

We propose a novel graded-index plastic optical fiber (GI POF) link that enables stable high-speed data transmission without the requirement for conventional coupling techniques to reduce reflection at fiber connection, as typified by physical-contact (PC) fiber connection, for short-reach multimode fiber (MMF) applications with vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). In the novel GI POF link, noise caused by light reflected at the fiber connection back into a VCSEL cavity can be suppressed through strong mode coupling in the fiber. It thereby improves the bit error rate of the data transmission compared with conventional silica and polymer MMFs. The capability of the novel GI POF link will be advantageous for optical interconnects in household and automotive applications, in which PC connection is not ideal to apply. The novel GI POF link will also be invaluable for multi-fiber interconnects based on multi-fiber connectors for data center applications, in which complete PC connections are difficult to obtain.