It is common in an optics lab to need to couple light efficiently from one optical component into another (for example an optical fiber and an optical resonator). The process of optimizing this coupling is called mode-matching and it is typically implemented with lenses. These calculators have been tested experimentally and been used to achieve better than 95% mode matching efficiency between optical fibers and fabry-perot resonators. These computations is based on the seminal paper "Laser Beams and Resonators" by Kogelnik and Li, which is accessable here.
User Inputs
Wavelength [nm]
w1 [mm]
w2 [mm]
f [mm]
Minimum f [mm]
Computation Outputs
d1 [nm]
d2 [mm]
L [mm]
Short Solution
Long Solution
Enter the wavelength, and input (w1) and output (w2) waists. Given these values, there is a minimum focal length which can be used to perform the mode-matching. When the wavelength and waist values are input, the minimum focal length is calculated and displayed in the "Minimum f" box. Next enter a value for the focal length which is greater than this minimum. Press enter (Windows) or return (Mac). Two solutions will be displayed in the "Computation Outputs" box. Sometimes the "Short Solution" contains negative (ie. unphysical) values, in which case this solution should not be used. The computational results will be updated after subsequent changes to any of the user inputs after enter/return is pressed.
User Inputs
Wavelength [nm]
w0 [mm]
w2 [mm]
L [mm]
f1 [mm]
f2 [mm]
Computation Outputs
| f1 [mm] | f2 [mm] | d0 [mm] | d1 [mm] | d2 [mm] |
|---|
Given the input and output focus waist sizes (w0 and w2, respectively) which are separated by a distance L this calculator will determine where the two lenses (with focal lengths f1 and f2) should be placed. For this calculator, you must enter a positive, non-zero number for the wavelength, w0, w2, and L. It is often the case that two arbitrarly chosen lenses cannot perform the mode-matching as shown above. Therefore, multiple input boxes are given for each lens. This calculator tool will try every combination of f1 and f2 lenses and return every combination which is capable of performing the mode-matching. For the focal lengths, at least one number must be entered for each lens -- up to three boxes can be left empty in each row. Positive (converging lens) and negative (diverging lens) values are acceptable. The only non-acceptable value for a focal length is zero. All units are milimeters, except the wavelength which is in nanometers. When all values are entered, click the "Run!" button. Note that this computation can take up to 30 seconds to finish. It is not uncommon for there to be no solutions, in which case, see the troubleshooting secton below.
If there are no solutions, here are some things you can try: