Abstract
Multi-plane light conversion allows to perform arbitrary transformations on a finite set of spatial modes with no theoretical restriction to the quality of the transformation. Even though the number of shaped modes is in general small, the number of modes transmitted by a multi-plane light converter (MPLC) is extremely large. In this work, we aim to characterize the transmission properties of a multi-plane light converter inside and, for the first time, outside the design-modes subspace. By numerically reconstructing the transmission matrix of such systems, we individuate new ways to evaluate their efficiency in performing the design transformation. Moreover, we develop an analytical random matrix model that suggests that in the regime of a large number of shaped modes an MPLC behaves like a random scattering medium with limited number of controlled channels.
Highlights
The ability of shaping light’s spatial profile is crucial for several different technologies such as imaging through opaque media [1] and biological tissues [2], classical [3] and quantum [4] communication, and quantum information processing [5]
We presented a complete characterization of the transmission properties of Multi-plane light conversion (MPLC) systems and investigated the behavior of these systems outside the subspace of modes that they are designed to shape
Our analysis shows how the singular value decomposition of the MPLC systems’ transmission matrices can be a powerful tool to quantify the performances of these devices
Summary
The ability of shaping light’s spatial profile is crucial for several different technologies such as imaging through opaque media [1] and biological tissues [2], classical [3] and quantum [4] communication, and quantum information processing [5]. The propagation medium supports a very large number of spatial modes, and couples them with one another in a complex, but static, way This fact can be exploited to engineer the phase front of the incident light in order to obtain the desired output spatial distribution. Another way to shape spatial modes of light is to control the medium they propagate through, as it happens, e.g., in complex nanostructures [9] and in photonic lanterns [10,11]. A clear threshold is identified beyond which singular modes produce speckle patterns at the output This analysis reveals new ways to assess MPLC systems’ efficiency and suggests that, outside the design subspace, such devices behave like random scattering media.
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