Fiber Bragg Grating-Based Tunable Wavelength Orbital Angular Momentum Beam Generation with

Abstract

This paper introduces and theoretically analyze the generation of orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes with different polarization in a few-mode optical fiber using short-period gratings (Bragg gratings) at telecommunication wavelengths. The modal characteristics of the supported modes have been studied using a full-vector true-mode analysis. Additionally, a appropriately designed raised-cosine apodized grating is employed to couple the HE11 core mode to the counter-propagating cladding mode. In contrast to the long-period grating based OAM mode generation, the present scheme is free from periodic back-coupling of optical power into the fundamental core mode which drastically enhances the OAM mode purity. The ±1-order OAM beam has been generated by combining the first higher order core modes with a π/2 phase shift between them. This paper also shows that by combining different higher order modes, it is possible to obtain a linearly polarised OAM mode or a circularly polarised OAM mode. Finally, I also report that in fibers with larger core radius, the higher order OAM mode of topological charge ±2 or higher can also be generated using similar approach of using short-period gratings. The topological charge of the OAM mode is verified by observing both the coaxial and off axial interference fringes.