Demonstration of a multimode-to-multimode photonic lantern for astronomy
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.
Versions
Related
- Demonstrating the integration of a photonic lantern with an all-fiber-based nulling interferometer
- Design, Fabrication, and Free-Space Characterization of a Two-Photon-Polymerized Nano-printed Photonic Lantern
- Information limits of photonic lantern wavefront sensing: a Fisher- and quantum-Fisher-information framework and its relation to Fourier-filtering sensitivity limits
- Transitioning from ADS to SciX to Serve 21st Century Astronomy
- From Axion Detection to Dark Matter Astronomy
BibTeX
@misc{centeneramerino2026demonstration,
title = {{Demonstration of a multimode-to-multimode photonic lantern for astronomy}},
author = {Marina Centenera-Merino and Andrew Ross-Adams and Christopher Betters and Pedro J. Amado and Jesus Aceituno and Kalaga Madhav and Stefan Cikota and F. Javier Flores and Julius Göhring and Abani S. Nayak and Jose Luis Ortiz and David Peréz-Medialdea and Francisco J. Pozuelos and Martin M. Roth and Mabel Ruíz-López and Miguel Andrés Sánchez-Carrasco and Sergio Leon-Saval},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.18912},
eprint = {2608.18912},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.18912},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Demonstration of a multimode-to-multimode photonic lantern for astronomy
AU - Marina Centenera-Merino
AU - Andrew Ross-Adams
AU - Christopher Betters
AU - Pedro J. Amado
AU - Jesus Aceituno
AU - Kalaga Madhav
AU - Stefan Cikota
AU - F. Javier Flores
AU - Julius Göhring
AU - Abani S. Nayak
AU - Jose Luis Ortiz
AU - David Peréz-Medialdea
AU - Francisco J. Pozuelos
AU - Martin M. Roth
AU - Mabel Ruíz-López
AU - Miguel Andrés Sánchez-Carrasco
AU - Sergio Leon-Saval
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/04
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.18912
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.18912
AB - 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.
ER -