Abstract

Time-of-flight measurements are key to study distributed mode coupling and differential mode group delay (DMDG) in multimode fibers (MMFs). However, current approaches using regular photodetectors with limited sensitivity preclude the detection of weak modal interactions in such fibers masking interesting physical effects. Here we demonstrate the use of high-sensitivity superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) to measure the mode transfer matrix of a commercial graded-index multimode fiber. Two high performance 45-mode multi-plane light conversion (MPLC) devices served as the mode multiplexer/demultiplexer. Distributed mode coupling and DMDG among different mode groups are accurately quantified from the impulse response measurement. We also observed cladding modes of the MMF as a pedestal of the pulse in the measurement. This work paves the way for applications such as quantum communications using many spatial modes of the fiber.

Multimode-fiber-coupled superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors with high detection efficiency and time resolution

Jin Chang, Iman Esmaeil Zadeh, Johannes W. N. Los, Julien Zichi, Andreas Fognini, Monique Gevers, Sander Dorenbos, Silvania F. Pereira, Paul Urbach, and Val Zwiller
Appl. Opt. 58(36) 9803-9807 (2019)

Multimode fiber-coupled superconducting nanowire single-photon detector with 70% system efficiency at visible wavelength

Dengkuan Liu, Shigehito Miki, Taro Yamashita, Lixing You, Zhen Wang, and Hirotaka Terai
Opt. Express 22(18) 21167-21174 (2014)

Polarizer-free measurement of the full Stokes vector using a fiber-coupled superconducting nanowire single photon detector with a polarization extinction ratio of ∼2

Yue Fei, Tianhao Ji, Guanghao Zhu, Labao Zhang, Lijian Zhang, Jingrou Tan, Qi Chen, Yanqiu Guan, Rui Yin, Hao Wang, Xiaoqing Jia, Qingyuan Zhao, Xuecou Tu, Lin Kang, Jian Chen, and Peiheng Wu
Opt. Express 31(2) 2967-2976 (2023)

Proof of concept of fiber dispersed Raman spectroscopy using superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors

Julia Toussaint, Sebastian Dochow, Ines Latka, Aleksandar Lukic, Torsten May, Hans-Georg Meyer, Konstantin Il’in, Michael Siegel, and Jürgen Popp
Opt. Express 23(4) 5078-5090 (2015)

Supercontinuum single-photon detector using multilayer superconducting nanowires

Hao Li, Yong Wang, Lixing You, Heqing Wang, Hui Zhou, Peng Hu, Weijun Zhang, Xiaoyu Liu, Xiaoyan Yang, Lu Zhang, Zhen Wang, and Xiaoming Xie
Photon. Res. 7(12) 1425-1431 (2019)