Optical mode conversion in coupled Fabry-P\'erot resonators

TL;DR

This paper introduces a tunable impedance mismatch technique in coupled Fabry-Pérot resonators for efficient optical mode conversion and tunable finesse, with potential applications in quantum science, sensing, and photonics.

Contribution

It presents a novel method for coherent spatial mode conversion and tunable finesse in coupled resonators using impedance mismatch, demonstrated experimentally with high efficiency.

Findings

Achieved >75% efficiency in mode conversion for six Hermite-Gauss modes.

Demonstrated a resonator with finesse tunable over a decade.

Implemented a near-infrared resonator with adjustable finesse.

Abstract

Coherent control of the spatial properties of light is central to a wide variety of applications from high bandwidth quantum and classical communication to high power fiber lasers. Low-loss conversion amongst a complete and orthogonal set of modes is particularly important for robust mode-multiplexed communication. Here, we introduce tunable impedance mismatch between coupled Fabry-P\'erot resonators as a powerful tool for manipulation of the spatial and temporal properties of optical fields. In the single-mode regime, frequency dependent impedance matching enables tunable finesse optical resonators, with potential applications in quantum science and sensing. Introducing the spatial dependence of the impedance mismatch as an additional ingredient enables coherent spatial mode conversion of optical photons at near-unity efficiency. We implement these ideas, experimentally demonstrating a NIR resonator whose finesse is tunable over a decade, and an optical mode converter with efficiency $>\!\!75\%$ for the first six Hermite-Gauss modes. We anticipate that this new perspective on coupled multimode resonators will have exciting applications in micro- and nano- photonics and computer-aided inverse design. In particular, combination with in-cavity electro-optics will open new horizons for real-time control of the spatio-spectral properties of lasers, resonators, and optical filters.