Integrated orbital angular momentum mode sorters on vortex fibers

Abstract

We design, fabricate, and characterize integrated mode sorters for multimode fibers that guide well-separated vortex modes. We use 3D direct laser printing to print a collimator and a Cartesian to a log-polar mode transformer on the tip of the fiber. This polarization insensitive device can send different modes into different exit angles and is therefore useful for space division multiplexed optical communication. Two types of fibers with two corresponding sorters are used, enabling the sorting of either four or eight different modes in a compact and robust manner. The integration of the vortex fiber and multiplexer opens the door for widespread exploitation of orbital angular momentum (OAM) for data multiplexing in fiber networks.