RESUMEN
We demonstrate how spatial beam self-cleaning and supercontinuum generation in graded-index multimode optical fibers can be directly applied in multiplex coherent anti-Stokes Raman Scattering (M-CARS) spectroscopy. Although supercontinuum generation causes pump depletion mainly in the center of the beam, the partial recovery of the pump brightness due to self-cleaning may enable self-referenced M-CARS, with no additional delay lines to synchronize pump and Stokes waves. As a proof-of-principle, we report examples of imaging of single chemical compounds and polystyrene beads. The new scheme paves the way towards simpler M-CARS systems based on multimode fiber sources.
RESUMEN
Here we report successful interferometric coupling of two large telescopes with single-mode fibers. Interference fringes were obtained in the 2- to 2.3-micrometer wavelength range on the star 107 Herculis by using the two Keck 10-meter telescopes, each feeding their common interferometric focus with 300 meters of single-mode fibers. This experiment demonstrates the potential of fibers for future kilometric arrays of telescopes and is the first step toward the 'OHANA (Optical Hawaiian Array for Nanoradian Astronomy) interferometer at the Mauna Kea observatory in Hawaii. It opens the way to sensitive optical imagers with resolutions below 1 milli-arc second. Our experimental setup can be directly extended to large telescopes separated by many hundreds of meters.
