Single Plane Spatial Mode Sorter

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Cohen, Khen, Yosif-Or, Yoav, Oz, Yaron, Arie, Ady
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Cohen, Khen
Yosif-Or, Yoav
Oz, Yaron
Arie, Ady
author_facet Cohen, Khen
Yosif-Or, Yoav
Oz, Yaron
Arie, Ady
contents A mode sorter separates a set of M orthogonal spatial modes in a shared input channel into M different output channels. Here we present an analytic derivation and experimental validation of a single plane device for sorting spatial modes from a diverse variety of mode families, including Hermite-Gaussian (HG), Laguerre-Gaussian (LG), Bessel-Gaussian (BG), with almost no cross-talk. This sorting capability is required for a wide range of applications that employ classical or quantum light. We also show that applying this design in order to sort a set of Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) modes with zero radial index reproduces the well-known Fork grating configuration. Furthermore, by taking the limit of M -> inf, we present an analytical expression for sorting all the modes of a given family. By operating this device in reverse, it can be used to generate arbitrary modes, by illuminating it with a Gaussian beam. The power transmission coefficient for this sorter goes as 1/M and we provide a mathematical proof that this is optimal for any typical arrangement of the detector positions. We further study the sorter sensitivity to wavelength and random phase noise.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_14119
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Single Plane Spatial Mode Sorter
Cohen, Khen
Yosif-Or, Yoav
Oz, Yaron
Arie, Ady
Optics
Signal Processing
Applied Physics
Quantum Physics
A mode sorter separates a set of M orthogonal spatial modes in a shared input channel into M different output channels. Here we present an analytic derivation and experimental validation of a single plane device for sorting spatial modes from a diverse variety of mode families, including Hermite-Gaussian (HG), Laguerre-Gaussian (LG), Bessel-Gaussian (BG), with almost no cross-talk. This sorting capability is required for a wide range of applications that employ classical or quantum light. We also show that applying this design in order to sort a set of Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) modes with zero radial index reproduces the well-known Fork grating configuration. Furthermore, by taking the limit of M -> inf, we present an analytical expression for sorting all the modes of a given family. By operating this device in reverse, it can be used to generate arbitrary modes, by illuminating it with a Gaussian beam. The power transmission coefficient for this sorter goes as 1/M and we provide a mathematical proof that this is optimal for any typical arrangement of the detector positions. We further study the sorter sensitivity to wavelength and random phase noise.
title Single Plane Spatial Mode Sorter
topic Optics
Signal Processing
Applied Physics
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.14119