ANALYSIS OF LOW-COHERENCE EXCITATION OF A 2-MODE FIBER WAVE-GUIDE IN THE MICHELSON INTERFEROMETER CONFIGURATION

Low-coherence excitation of a two-mode fibre waveguide that leads to a suppressed interference pattern at its exit face is analysed. The use of classical coherence formalism and guided modes field representation reveals that the principle of coherence modulation can be used, i.e., the optical path difference between guided modes that exceeds the source coherence length can be compensated in the Michelson interferometer configuration, General considerations presented here also show the role played by the effect of second-order dispersion which substantially affects the use of this new fibre waveguide interferometer configuration for sensing applications.