Broadband dispersion compensation by using the higher-order spatial mode in a two-mode fiber

A fiber-optic technique for compensating both first- and second-order group-velocity dispersion in single-mode fiber spans is demonstrated by using the large waveguide dispersion that occurs for the higher-order (LP11) spatial mode in a two-mode fiber near cutoff. Complete restoration of 7-ps pulses that had been dispersed by a factor of 10 in 5 km of single-mode fiber is demonstrated over a 20-nm-wavelength window. First-order dispersion as large as −228 ps/(nm km) is observed for the LP11 mode at 1560 nm in the two-mode fiber.