Influence of polarization-maintaining fiber on light spot
In an ordinary (non-polarization-maintaining) fiber, different polarization modes have the same nominal due to the fiber's circular symmetry. in such a fiber, or bending of the fiber, will cause a tiny amount of crosstalk between different modes. The use of fiber optics has proven to increase both stability and conve-nience significantly when compared with standard free-beam setups. As a consequence, the polarization of light propagating in the fiber gradually changes in an uncontrolled (and wavelength-dependent) way, which also depends on any bending of the fiber and on its temperature.
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