Spatiotemporal Control of Light Transmission through a Multimode Fiber with Strong Mode Coupling

Wen Xiong, Philipp Ambichl, Yaron Bromberg, Brandon Redding, Stefan Rotter, Hui Cao

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76 Scopus citations

Abstract

We experimentally generate and characterize eigenstates of the Wigner-Smith time-delay matrix, called principal modes, in a multimode fiber with strong mode coupling. The unique spectral and temporal properties of principal modes enable global control of temporal dynamics of optical pulses transmitted through the fiber, despite random mode mixing. Our analysis reveals that well-defined delay times of the eigenstates are formed by multipath interference, which can be effectively manipulated by spatial degrees of freedom of input wave fronts. This study is essential to controlling dynamics of wave scattering, paving the way for coherent control of pulse propagation through complex media.

Original languageAmerican English
Article number053901
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume117
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 25 Jul 2016
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We acknowledge Chia Wei Hsu, Joel Carpenter, and Nicolas Fontaine for interesting discussions. This work is supported partly by the U.S. National Science Foundation under the Grants No. ECCS-1509361 and No. DMR-1205307. P.A. and S.R. acknowledge support by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) through projects SFB NextLite (F49-P10) and project GePartWave (I1142).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 American Physical Society.

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