Angular-momentum coupled optical waves in chirally-coupled-core fibers

Abstract

A new type of interaction between optical waves occurs in chirally-coupled-core (CCC) fibers. Instead of linear-translational symmetry of conventional cylindrical fibers, CCC fibers are helical-translation symmetric, and, consequently, interaction between CCC fiber modes involves both spin and orbital angular momentum of the waves. Experimentally this has been verified by observing a multitude of new phase-matching resonances in the transmitted super-continuum spectrum, and theoretically explained through modal theory developed in helical reference frame. This enables new degrees of freedom in controlling fiber modal properties.