Publication # 435

435. D. A. B. Miller, “Reconfigurable add-drop multiplexer for spatial modes,” Opt. Express 21, 20220-20229 (2013)
http://www.opticsinfobase.org/oe/abstract.cfm?URI=oe-21-17-20220 (open access)

We show how a spatial mode can be extracted from a light beam, leaving the other orthogonal modes undisturbed, and allowing a new signal to be retransmitted on that mode. The method is self-aligning, avoids fundamental splitting losses, and uses only local feedback loops on controllable beam splitters and phase shifters. It could be implemented with Mach-Zehnder interferometers in planar optics. The method can be extended to multiple simultaneous mode extractions. As a spatial reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer, it is hitless, allowing reconfiguration without interrupting the transmission of any channel.

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