Spontaneous Brillouin Scattering in a Few-Mode Optical Fiber

TL;DR

This paper presents a detailed experimental analysis of spontaneous Brillouin scattering in a few-mode optical fiber, identifying different scattering processes and providing quantitative benchmarks for future phonon-based quantum and optomechanical applications.

Contribution

It offers the first comprehensive measurement of both forward and backward spontaneous Brillouin scattering in a few-mode fiber, including mode-specific acoustic interactions.

Findings

Forward scattering involves torsional-radial acoustic modes.

Backward scattering involves longitudinal core-guided modes.

Quantitative measurements of Brillouin shifts, linewidths, and gain coefficients.

Abstract

We report a comprehensive experimental study of spontaneous Brillouin scattering in a few-mode optical fiber, resolving both forward and backward scattering processes for intra- and inter-modal interactions. Using heterodyne detection, Stokes and anti-Stokes components without external acoustic excitation are observed and quantitatively extracted Brillouin shifts, linewidths, and gain coefficients. Forward scattering is mediated by guided torsional-radial acoustic modes with frequencies ranging from MHz to GHz, while backward scattering involves longitudinal core-guided modes at frequencies of tens of GHz. These results provide calibrated benchmarks for Brillouin interactions in few-mode fibers, offering insights relevant to phonon-based quantum applications and mode-selective optomechanics.