This paper provides an overview of latest progress on the novel advanced digital signal processing (DSP) techniques for long-haul mode division multiplexing (MDM) systems with high capacity. Space-division multiplexing (SDM) techniques have been developed for a period to increase the capacity of optical communication system by at least one order of magnitude through MDM techniques using few-mode fibers (FMFs) or multi-core multiplexing (MCM) using multi-core fibers (MCFs). The signals in MDM links are mainly impaired by the linear and nonlinear effects in FMFs, making DSP techniques become necessary to undo these impairments. In this paper, we not only review the advanced multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) DSP techniques for compensating linear impairments in FMFs, but also enclose the state of the art of novel DSP techniques to deal with nonlinear effects. Firstly, we introduce the MIMO schemes for equalizing modal crosstalk and modal dispersion. Then, we focus on the fast tracking of time-varying (TV) channels in FMF links through frequency-domain (FD) recursive least square (RLS) algorithm. Besides, we also cover the mainstream DSP solutions for mode-dependent loss (MDL) and several possible methods to compensate nonlinearity in FMF. Moreover, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are also discussed for its high nonlinearity tolerance and may bring a revolution in MDM systems on the process of channel equalization, link monitoring, etc. In the end, a brief conclusion and perspective will be provided.

Over the past few decades, optical manipulation has emerged as a highly successful tool in various fields such as biology, micro/nanorobotics, and physics. Among the different techniques, the transverse slot optical waveguide has shown remarkable potential in enhancing the field and significantly improving optical trapping capabilities. Additionally, microring resonators have demonstrated the ability to enhance the field at specific resonance wavelengths, enabling the manipulation and capture of particles. In this study, we investigated the impact of the structure on nanoparticle capture by introducing a 50 nm transverse slot in a 5 µm microring resonator. Through the integration of a transverse slot in the microring resonator, we observed a substantial increase in the maximum bound optical power for a nanosphere with a refractive index of 1.6 and a diameter of 50 nm, reaching 3988.8 pN/W. This value is 2292 times higher than the maximum optical force in a straight waveguide and 2.266 times higher than the maximum optical force in a microring resonator. The proposed structure significantly enhances the optical trapping capabilities for nanoscale particles, thus paving the way for the development of advanced micro/nanomanipulation techniques.

We propose a reinforcement-learning-optimized nonlinear physical diffractive neural network, which can simultaneously perform OAM-mode and LP-mode conversion with Gaussian noise removal. The PSNR and SSIM of the converted modes reach 27.94 dB and 0.838, respectively.