Abstract

Disordered optical fibers show novel waveguiding properties, enabled by the transverse Anderson localization of light, and are used for image transport. The strong transverse scattering from the transversely disordered refractive index structure results in transversely confined modes that can freely propagate in the longitudinal direction. In some sense, an Anderson localization disordered fiber behave like a large-core multimode optical fiber, with the advantage that most modes are highly localized in the transverse plane, so any point in the cross section of the fiber can be used for localized beam transport. This property has been used for high-quality transportation of intensity patterns and images in these optical fibers. This review covers the basics and the history of the transverse Anderson localization in disordered optical fibers and captures the recent progress in imaging applications using these optical fibers.

Advances in the fabrication of disordered transverse Anderson localizing optical fibers [Invited]

Arash Mafi, Matthew Tuggle, Cody Bassett, Esmaeil Mobini, and John Ballato
Opt. Mater. Express 9(7) 2769-2774 (2019)

A path to high-quality imaging through disordered optical fibers: a review

Jian Zhao, Mostafa Peysokhan, Jose Enrique Antonio-Lopez, Yangyang Sun, Behnam Abaie, Arash Mafi, Rodrigo Amezcua Correa, Shuo Pang, and Axel Schülzgen
Appl. Opt. 58(13) D50-D60 (2019)

Transverse Anderson localization in a disordered glass optical fiber

Salman Karbasi, Thomas Hawkins, John Ballato, Karl W. Koch, and Arash Mafi
Opt. Mater. Express 2(11) 1496-1503 (2012)

Detailed investigation of the impact of the fiber design parameters on the transverse Anderson localization of light in disordered optical fibers

Salman Karbasi, Craig R. Mirr, Ryan J. Frazier, Parisa Gandomkar Yarandi, Karl W. Koch, and Arash Mafi
Opt. Express 20(17) 18692-18706 (2012)

Transverse Anderson localization of light: a tutorial

Arash Mafi
Adv. Opt. Photon. 7(3) 459-515 (2015)