Optical fiber modal noise suppression in the NIR region using Multicore Fiber and Photonic Lanterns

Modal noise has been shown to critically limit the signal-to-noise ratio achievable in fiber-coupled, high-resolution spectrographs. We are investigating new fiber technologies that can potentially solve the modal noise issues in the NIR region. The new technology that we present is a combination of a multicore fiber (MCF) and a photonic lantern (PL) specifically designed to provide highly efficient phase scrambling in the NIR with a low mode count. In this paper we give an overview of the specifications, design and manufacture of the multicore fiber and photonic lantern. We also present the initial modal noise test results for the MCF-PL and an octagonal multimode fiber for comparison.