Optical power 1 × 7 splitter based on multicore fiber technology

Multicore and microstructured fibers open a new door for designing all-fiber telecom components. In this article we propose a design of an optical power splitter based on the phenomenon of power coupling in the tapered splice between a single-core (SMF-28) and a seven core fiber (MCF-7), which was originally developed for spatial division multiplexing telecommunication systems. Comprehensive numerical analysis is presented and backed up with an experimental demonstration.