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Multi-mode to single-mode conversion in a 61 port Photonic Lantern
D Noordegraaf1, P M W Skovgaard, M D Maack
1NKT Photonics A/S, Blokken 84, DK-3460 Birkerød, Denmark. dno@nktphotonics.com
Optics Express
|April 15, 2010
Summary
Efficient multi-mode to single-mode fiber conversion using a 61-port Photonic Lantern is demonstrated. This technology enables low-loss coupling for astrophotonics applications like spectral filtering.
Area of Science:
- Optics and Photonics
- Astrophysical Instrumentation
Background:
- Multi-mode (MM) optical fibers can carry more light but are challenging to interface with single-mode (SM) fiber systems.
- Astrophysical spectrographs often require efficient coupling of starlight into SM fibers for high-resolution analysis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate efficient conversion between MM and SM optical fibers using a novel Photonic Lantern device.
- To assess the coupling loss of this device for potential astrophotonics applications.
Main Methods:
- A 61-port Photonic Lantern was fabricated, acting as a splitter/combiner between a MM fiber and an array of SM fibers.
- Insertion loss was measured for light coupling from a 100 micrometer core diameter MM fiber to 61 SM fibers and back.
Main Results:
- The Photonic Lantern achieved efficient MM to SM fiber conversion.
- Measured coupling loss was as low as 0.76 dB for the round trip between MM fiber sections.
Conclusions:
- The demonstrated Photonic Lantern provides a feasible solution for efficient MM to SM fiber coupling.
- This technology is suitable for astrophotonics, enabling the use of MM starlight with SM fiber-based spectral filtering systems, such as fiber Bragg gratings.
