• Open Access

Higher-order modes of vacuum-clad ultrathin optical fibers

Fam Le Kien, Thomas Busch, Viet Giang Truong, and Síle Nic Chormaic
Phys. Rev. A 96, 023835 – Published 15 August 2017

Abstract

We present a systematic treatment of higher-order modes of vacuum-clad ultrathin optical fibers. We show that, for a given fiber, the higher-order modes have larger penetration lengths, larger effective mode radii, and larger fractional powers outside the fiber than the fundamental mode. We calculate, both analytically and numerically, the Poynting vector, propagating power, energy, angular momentum, and helicity (or chirality) of the guided light. The axial and azimuthal components of the Poynting vector can be negative with respect to the direction of propagation and the direction of phase circulation, respectively, depending on the position, the mode type, and the fiber parameters. The orbital and spin parts of the Poynting vector may also have opposite signs in some regions of space. We show that the angular momentum per photon decreases with increasing fiber radius and increases with increasing azimuthal mode order. The orbital part of angular momentum of guided light depends not only on the phase gradient but also on the field polarization, and is positive with respect to the direction of the phase circulation axis. Meanwhile, depending on the mode type, the spin and surface parts of angular momentum and the helicity of the field can be negative with respect to the direction of the phase circulation axis.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
15 More
  • Received 28 February 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.96.023835

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & OpticalPolymers & Soft Matter

Authors & Affiliations

Fam Le Kien and Thomas Busch

  • Quantum Systems Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan

Viet Giang Truong

  • Light-Matter Interactions Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan

Síle Nic Chormaic

  • Light-Matter Interactions Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan and School of Chemistry and Physics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal 4001, South Africa

Article Text

Click to Expand

References

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 96, Iss. 2 — August 2017

Reuse & Permissions
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review A

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

×

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×