{
  "abstract": "Photonic lanterns have been widely used in astronomy as low-loss multiplexing devices, typically coupling light from a multimode input into several single-mode outputs. In this work, we present the first multimode-to-multimode photonic lantern specifically designed to combine light from several multimode fibers into a single multimode waveguide. We fabricated and characterized the devices at multiple wavelengths to evaluate the performance of the adiabatic multimode transition. The measured efficiencies exceed $90\\ \\%$, demonstrating low-loss multimode propagation and efficient modal transfer through the lantern structure. This architecture enables efficient multimode beam combination and represents a significant step toward scalable modular telescope concepts without requiring diffraction-limited injection.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2608.18912",
  "author_total": 17,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Marina Centenera-Merino"
    },
    {
      "name": "Andrew Ross-Adams"
    },
    {
      "name": "Christopher Betters"
    },
    {
      "name": "Pedro J. Amado"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jesus Aceituno"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kalaga Madhav"
    },
    {
      "name": "Stefan Cikota"
    },
    {
      "name": "F. Javier Flores"
    },
    {
      "name": "Julius Göhring"
    },
    {
      "name": "Abani S. Nayak"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jose Luis Ortiz"
    },
    {
      "name": "David Peréz-Medialdea"
    },
    {
      "name": "Francisco J. Pozuelos"
    },
    {
      "name": "Martin M. Roth"
    },
    {
      "name": "Mabel Ruíz-López"
    },
    {
      "name": "Miguel Andrés Sánchez-Carrasco"
    },
    {
      "name": "Sergio Leon-Saval"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0n5xhqk1r78hy.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2608.18912",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "0n5xhqk1r78hy",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.18912",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.IM"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2608.18912",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-04",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0n5xhqk1r78hy.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:14Z",
      "native_id": "2608.18912",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.18912"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.IM",
      "subfield": "instrumentation-methods"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Demonstration of a multimode-to-multimode photonic lantern for astronomy",
  "title_text": "Demonstration of a multimode-to-multimode photonic lantern for astronomy",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:14Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0n5xhqk1r78hy",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": [
    {
      "doi": "10.1364/ol.609358",
      "pid": null,
      "relation": "published-as",
      "title": null,
      "venue": null
    }
  ]
}