Emerging Trends in Optical Fiber Technology

A special issue of Photonics (ISSN 2304-6732). This special issue belongs to the section "Lasers, Light Sources and Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 July 2026 | Viewed by 588

Special Issue Editors

Key Lab of In-Fiber Integrated Optics, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, China
Interests: optical fiber; optical fiber sensing; fiber Bragg grating

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Lab of In-Fiber Integrated Optics, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, China
Interests: optical fiber; optical fiber magnetic field sensing

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since the birth of practical optical fibers in the 1970s, research on optical fibers has revolutionized the communication field with its low-loss and high-bandwidth characteristics, and they have become the key to long-distance communication. With the development of information technology, optical fiber research has been continuously advancing.

In terms of materials, new types of hollow-core fibers and photonic crystal fibers have been developed from traditional silica fibers, effectively reducing losses and expanding bandwidth. At the device level, optical communication devices are evolving towards miniaturization and integration, with integrated optical chips and micro/nano optical devices emerging one after another. In the field of system applications, optical fiber sensing technology is widely used in industrial monitoring, biomedicine, and other fields, and optical fiber communication systems are also constantly being upgraded to meet the needs of massive data transmission.

This Special Issue aims at publishing high-quality papers which study emerging, important technologies in optical fiber research. Original research articles and reviews are both welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Optical fiber components;
  • New fiber materials and designs;
  • Fiber lasers and amplifiers;
  • Fiber switching, memory, and signal processing;
  • Modulation format for transmission systems;
  • Fiber nonlinearities and countermeasures;
  • Long-haul transmission systems;
  • Fiber local area networks;
  • Fiber sensors and instrumentation.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Ye Tian
Dr. Xixin Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Photonics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • optical fiber
  • optical fiber communication
  • optical fiber sensing
  • optical signal processing
  • quantum communication
  • integrated optical chip
  • photonic crystal fiber

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

22 pages, 4366 KB  
Article
AI-Optimized High-Capacity Tri-Concentric-Core Fiber with Tailored Index Gradients for 5G and Beyond
by Rabiu Imam Sabitu, Aliyu Aliyu and Amin Malekmohammadi
Photonics 2025, 12(12), 1179; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics12121179 - 29 Nov 2025
Viewed by 337
Abstract
The global expansion of 5G and the approaching 6G era are pushing conventional single-mode fibers toward their fundamental capacity limits, necessitating a paradigm shift in optical network infrastructure. This study introduces a novel, AI-optimized tri-concentric-core fiber with an optimized grading profile (TCC-OGP) to [...] Read more.
The global expansion of 5G and the approaching 6G era are pushing conventional single-mode fibers toward their fundamental capacity limits, necessitating a paradigm shift in optical network infrastructure. This study introduces a novel, AI-optimized tri-concentric-core fiber with an optimized grading profile (TCC-OGP) to overcome this capacity crunch through spatial-division multiplexing (SDM). The fiber design was realized through an integrated artificial intelligence framework, combining a neural network surrogate model with particle swarm optimization to efficiently navigate a complex multi-objective design space. The resultant TCC-OGP fiber supports six spatial-division-multiplexed LP modes, achieving a breakthrough in the traditional capacity–nonlinearity trade-off. A comprehensive numerical analysis demonstrates that the proposed structure achieves 92% of the theoretical Shannon capacity while simultaneously suppressing nonlinear impairments by 65% compared to the standard single-core fiber. Furthermore, the fiber exhibits low differential mode delay, a flattened dispersion of approximately 16 ps/(nm·km) at 1550 nm, strong bend tolerance (<0.01 dB/m at a 30 mm radius), and excellent inter-modal crosstalk below −25 dB over 20 km. These performance metrics confirm the TCC-OGP fiber’s suitability for terabit-scale transmission in metro networks, dense 5G back-haul, and future 6G infrastructures, establishing a scalable and intelligent platform for next-generation optical networks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Trends in Optical Fiber Technology)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop