Using a multimode fiber as a high-resolution, low-loss spectrometer

B. Redding; H. Cao

doi:10.1117/12.2050020

18 June 2014 Using a multimode fiber as a high-resolution, low-loss spectrometer

B. Redding, H. Cao

Proceedings Volume 9098, Fiber Optic Sensors and Applications XI; 90980G (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2050020
Event: SPIE Sensing Technology + Applications, 2014, Baltimore, MD, United States

Abstract

The development of optical fibers has revolutionized telecommunications by enabling long-distance broad-band transmission with minimal loss. In turn, the ubiquity of high-quality low-cost fibers enabled a number of additional applications, including fiber sensors, fiber lasers, and imaging fiber bundles. In this work, we show that a multimode optical fiber can also function as a spectrometer by measuring the wavelength-dependent speckle pattern formed by interference between the guided modes. In practice, the wavelength-dependent speckle patterns are recorded in a transmission matrix. After calibration an arbitrary input spectra can be reconstructed based on the speckle pattern it produces. The spectral resolution is dictated by the change in wavelength required to produce an uncorrelated speckle pattern, which scales inversely with the length of the fiber. Using a 100 meter long multimode fiber, we were able to resolve two lines separated by merely 1 pm at a wavelength of 1500 nm. Broad-band operation is also possible by using a shorter fiber with lower resolution. We showed that a 4 cm fiber can provide 350 nm of bandwidth across the visible spectrum with 1 nm resolution. The fiber spectrometer consists only of a multimode fiber and a monochrome camera used to record the speckle patterns. Since the fiber can be coiled into a small volume, the entire spectrometer can be compact, lightweight, and low cost while providing ultrahigh resolution, broad bandwidth, and low loss.

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B. Redding and H. Cao "Using a multimode fiber as a high-resolution, low-loss spectrometer", Proc. SPIE 9098, Fiber Optic Sensors and Applications XI, 90980G (18 June 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2050020

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KEYWORDS

Spectroscopy

Multimode fibers

Optical fibers

Speckle pattern

Calibration

Single mode fibers

Spectral resolution

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