title: Polarization-resolved imaging of an ensemble of waveguide modes.
abstract: We demonstrate polarization-sensitive measurement of the modal content of waveguides by generalizing the classic rotating wave-plate-based polarimeter to wide-field optical low-coherence interferometry. The spatial phases of the modes are retrieved with principal component analysis. By applying this polarization-sensitive cross-correlation (C2) imaging technique to the characterization of a few-mode fiber, we reveal that different modes experience distinct bend-induced birefringence in optical fibers. This polarization-resolved C2 imaging is well suited for analyzing the impact of polarization on wave propagation in high-power fiber lasers as well as in mode-division-multiplexed communications systems.
authors.affiliation: Photonics Center, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA. dschimpf@mit.edu
authors.forename: D N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Schimpf
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ramachandran