Modal noise characterisation of a hybrid reformatter
11 Jul 2016
•
Spaleniak Izabela
•
MacLachlan David G.
•
Gris-Sánchez Itandehui
•
Choudhury Debaditya
•
Harris Robert J.
•
Arriola Alexander
•
Allington-Smith Jeremy R.
•
Birks Timothy A.
•
Thomson Robert R.
This paper reports on the modal noise characterisation of a hybrid
reformatter. The device consists of a multicore-fibre photonic lantern and an
ultrafast laser-inscribed slit reformatter...It operates around 1550 nm and
supports 92 modes. Photonic lanterns transform a multimode signal into an array
of single-mode signals, and thus combine the high coupling efficiency of
multimode fibres with the diffraction-limited performance of single-mode
fibres. This paper presents experimental measurements of the device point
spread function properties under different coupling conditions, and its
throughput behaviour at high spectral resolution. The device demonstrates
excellent scrambling but its point spread function is not completely stable. Mode field diameter and mode barycentre position at the device output vary as
the multicore-fibre is agitated due to the fabrication imperfections.(read more)