In the context of Industry 4.0, the smart oilfield is introduced, which relies on large-scale information exchange among various parts, and there is an urgent need for special fiber links for both increased data transmission capacity and high-sensitivity distributed sensing. Multicore fibers can be expected to play a critical role, in the parts of cores that are responsible for data transmission, while others are used for sensing. In this paper, we propose a heterogeneously integrated seven-core fiber for interconnection and awareness applications in smart oilfields, which could not only support digital and analog signal transmission but could also measure temperature and vibration. The core for digital signal transmission has a low differential mode group delay of 10 ps/km over the C-band, and the crosstalk between adjacent cores is lower than −55 dB/km at the pitch of 50 μm. A 25-Gbaud transmission over 50 km is simulated. Each core for analog signal transmission has a large effective area of 172 μm² to suppress the nonlinear effect due to the watt-scale input power. The proposed heterogeneously multicore fiber exhibits great potential to be applied in smart oilfields, meeting the demand for efficient and cost-effective oil production.

With the widespread use and increasing importance of few-mode fibers (FMFs), comprehensive dispersion measurement for FMFs with large mode numbers is in urgent demand. Among existing methods, spatially and spectrally resolved (S²) imaging technique offers distinct advantages for measuring differential mode group delay (DMGD) and chromatic dispersion (CD) parameters. However, it suffers from several limitations such as uncontrollable mode excitation and an inability to measure absolute CD. In this study, we enhance the traditional S² method, making it possible to effectively measure the complete dispersion for high-mode-count FMFs. By introducing a mode multiplexer (MMUX), selectively and proportionally mode excitation can be realized. Combined with a tunable delay line array, the misalignment of the MMUX’s fiber pigtail lengths is canceled. Additionally, with the help of a reference path capable of generating planar light, the measurement of the absolute CD is enabled. Based on the enhanced MMUX-assisted S², a simultaneous DMGD and absolute CD measurement for an FMF supporting up to six LP modes is conducted, which has not been previously demonstrated with a single S²-based system. The proposed paradigm significantly expands the mode number of FMF measurable by S², enriches the parameters that S² can cover, and even has great inspiration for other measurement methods.

Exploring innovative approaches to enhance the performance of photonic lanterns is greatly valuable. In this paper, we first propose an air-hole-assisted pure silica-based capillary (AHC), featuring a single ring of embedded air holes. As a result, the PL based on the AHC exhibits good performance, successfully exciting LP₀₁, LP_11a & LP_11b, LP_21a & LP_21b, LP₀₂, and LP_31a & LP_21b modes. The average mode loss, mode-dependent loss, and maximum crosstalk are 0.08 dB, 0.04 dB, and −27.2 dB, respectively. In fact, the overall performance of the proposed AHC-based PL is on par with that of the traditional PL. Furthermore, an error analysis is provided to confirm the feasibility of our approach. The AHC-based PLs possess high numerical apertures and are expected to enable high spatial resolution imaging in optical imaging.