Discrete self-imaging in small-core optical fiber interferometers

Xiaokang Lian, Qiang Wu, Gerald Farrell, Changyu Shen, Youqiao Ma, Yuliya Semenova

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Multiple cladding modes can exist in a small-core optical fiber unaccompanied by core modes, yet this fact has not been sufficiently explored in literature to date. In this article, we study the self-imaging of cladding modes in small core optical fiber interferometers. Our analytical and numerical simulations and experiments show that unlike the self-imaging of core modes, self-imaging of cladding modes only appears at a set of discrete positions along the interferometer axis with an equal spacing corresponding to some discrete values of fiber core radius. This is the first observation of the discrete self-imaging effect in multimode waveguides. More strikingly, the self-imaging period of cladding modes grows exponentially with fiber core radius, unlike the quadratic relationship in the case of core modes. The findings bring new insights to the mode propagation in an optical fiber with a core at micro/nanoscale, which may open new avenues for exploring multimode fiber technologies in both linear and nonlinear optics.
Original languageEnglish
Article number8620225
Pages (from-to)1873-1884
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Lightwave Technology
Volume37
Issue number9
Early online date21 Jan 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2019

Keywords

  • Optical fiber cladding
  • Optical fiber devices
  • Optical fiber interference
  • Self-focusing
  • Talbot and self-imaging effect

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