Ray-tracing analysis of crosstalk in multi-core polymer optical fibers.

The aim of this paper is to present a new ray-tracing model which describes the propagation of light in multi-core polymer optical fibers (MCPOFs), taking into account the crosstalk among their cores. The new model overcomes many of the limitations of previous approaches allowing us to simulate MCPOFs of arbitrary designs. Additionally, it provides us with the output ray distribution at the end of the fiber, making it possible to calculate useful parameters related to the fiber performance such as the Near-Field Pattern, the Far-Field Pattern or the bandwidth. We also present experimental measurements in order to validate the computational model and we analyze the importance of crosstalk in different MCPOF configurations.