Nonlinear mode conversion for intermodal four-wave mixing Stokes and anti-Stokes in a multimode fiber

In this paper we study, both experimentally and by theory, a new nonlinear dynamic in multimode optical fiber where intermodal four-wave mixing (IM-FWM) and Kerr-induced nonlinear mode coupling (NLC) are strongly interacting. We show that presence of phase-matched IM-FWM and strong nonlinear mode coupling results in an unprecedented saturable mode conversion in the FWM anti-Stokes beam. We investigate the evolution of modal conversion as a function of fiber length and show that the result of this novel nonlinear dynamic is a controllable, length independent mode conversion. Our theoretical calculations suggest that the converted anti-Stokes beam can also be amplified via IM-FWM. We observe a mode conversion with an efficiency as high as 90 percent.