Modal dynamics in multimode fibers

TL;DR

This paper investigates the complex dynamics of modes and polarization states in multimode fibers, proposing a modified Poincare sphere representation to better predict output modes and polarization states based on input conditions.

Contribution

It introduces a modified Poincare sphere representation to accurately interpret and predict polarization and mode dynamics in multimode fibers.

Findings

States of polarization displace in Poincare sphere with changing incident polarization

Modified Poincare sphere enables better prediction of output modes

Experimental and theoretical analysis confirms the effectiveness of the new representation

Abstract

The dynamics of modes and their states of polarizations in multimode fibers as a function of time, space, and wavelength are experimentally and theoretically investigated. The results reveal that the states of polarizations are displaced in Poincare sphere representation when varying the angular orientations of the polarization at the incident light. Such displacements, which complicates the interpretation of the results, are overcome by resorting to modified Poincare spheres representation. With such modification it should be possible to predict the output modes and their state of polarization when the input mode and state of polarization are known.