Optical Mode Control, Switching and Shaping In Few Mode Fiber Using a Fiber Piano

Abstract: This work investigates the use of a fiber piano in controlling spatial modes in few mode fibers. It has been found that together with sub-optimal coupling into SMF-28 fibre and half and quarter waveplates, the fiber piano is capable of producing and reproducing desired spatial modes up to $LP_{11}$ when using 808 nm light and up to $LP_{21}$ when using 632.8 nm light. The control of spatial mode profile extends down to the single photon level. This is demonstrated with the help of correlated photon pairs generated via spontaneous parametric down conversion.