Twisted optical communications using orbital angular momentum

Angular momentum, a fundamental physical quantity, can be divided into spin angular momentum(SAM) and orbital angular momentum(OAM) in electromagnetic waves. Helically-phased or twisted light beams carrying OAM that exploit the spatial structure physical dimension of electromagnetic waves have benefited wide applications ranging from optical manipulation to quantum information processing. Using the two distinct properties of OAM, i.e., inherent orthogonality and unbounded states in principle, one can develop OAM modulation and OAM multiplexing techniques for twisted optical communications. OAM multiplexing is an alternative space-division multiplexing approach employing an orthogonal mode basis related to the spatial phase structure. In this paper, we review the recent progress in twisted optical communications using OAM in free space and fiber. The basic concept of momentum, angular momentum, SAM, OAM and OAM-carrying twisted optical communications,key techniques and devices of OAM generation/(de)multiplexing/detection, high-capacity spectrally-efficient free-space OAM links, fiber-based OAM links, and OAM processing functions are presented. Ultra-high spectral efficiency and petabit-scale freespace data links are achieved benefiting from OAM multiplexing. The key techniques and challenges of twisted optical communications are also discussed. Twisted optical communications using OAM are compatible with other existing physical dimensions such as frequency/wavelength, amplitude, phase, polarization and time, opening a possible way to facilitate continuous increase of the aggregate transmission capacity and spectral efficiency through N-dimensional multiplexing.     

On-ground simulation of optical links for free-space laser communications

A method of on-ground simulation of optical links for free-space communications by Fourier-transform, image magnification and wavefront sampling with limited apertures was proposed. An optical simulator for free-space laser links was designed, which has the range of equivalent links distances from 160,000 km to 25 km. It can be used for the evaluation of communication performances of optical links in space, particularly for measuring the bit error rate under a constant transmission distance or for testing the equivalent transmission distance under a constant bit error rate. System analysis indicates that the wavefront aberrations of Fourier-transform lens have the main influence on the measurement results. But these effects can be corrected only if the RMS value of wavefront aberrations of Fourier-transform lens on the work aperture is known. Simulation experiment further shows that this method will be feasible by providing excellent optical devices and fine calibration accuracy and by overcoming the environmental disturbances.     

Optimized multiemitter beams for free-space optical communications through turbulent atmosphere

Using laser beams with less than perfect spatial coherence is an effective way of reducing scintillations in free-space optical communication links. We report a proof-of-principle experiment that quantifies this concept for a particular type of a partially coherent beam. In our scaled model of a free-space optical communication link, the beam is composed of several partially overlapping fundamental Gaussian beams that are mutually incoherent. The turbulent atmosphere is simulated by a random phase screen imprinted with Kolmogorov turbulence. Our experiments show that for both weak-to-intermediate and strong turbulence an optimum separation between the constituent beams exists such that the scintillation index of the optical signal at the detector is minimized. At the minimum, the scintillation reduction factor compared with the case of a single Gaussian beam is substantial, and it is found to grow with the number of constituent beams. For weak-to-intermediate turbulence, our experimental results are in reasonable agreement with calculations based on the Rytov approximation.     

Fundamental performance limit of covert free-space optical communications

With the development of wireless communication, free-space optical (FSO) communication is becoming a highly promising technology. In this paper, we consider the covert FSO communication between two legitimate peers in the presence of an external warden. We establish a system model under a nonnegativity constraint, a peak optical intensity constraint, an average optical intensity constraint and a covertness constraint. For the considered system, the optimal input signal is shown to follow a uniform distribution. Based on the optimal input signal and covertness constraint, we obtain an upper bound that should be satisfied by the transmitter’s peak optical intensity, which provides a basis for the transmitter to set the transmit optical intensity. We also derive the upper bound of maximum amount of information transmitted covertly, which reveals the fundamental performance limit of covert FSO communication. Finally, we verify the theoretical analysis by numerical simulations.     

空间光通信的到达角起伏实验研究

2006年上半年进行了距离为3 200 m的光束传输实验,对到达角起伏进行了24 h昼夜观测。实验中,每分钟进行一次连续测量,每次以1 kHz的信号采样频率连续采集10 s,得到10 000个到达角起伏实验数据,并反映了0.2~500 Hz频段的信息。根据高采样频率下的到达角起伏昼夜观测数据,分析了到达角起伏效应,并通过到达角起伏时间平滑因子,对曝光时间的平滑作用进行了研究。昼夜观测实验结果表明：在天气阴霾、能见度低的情况下,到达角起伏会显著减小;在强湍流区,到达角起伏出现饱和效应,在弱湍流区,到达角起伏的强度随着湍流强度的增加而增强;到达角起伏幅度随着曝光时间的增加而减小,由归一化协方差拟合关系得到的时间平滑因子计算结果与实验直接分析得到的结果一致。     

空间光通信的到达角起伏实验研究

 2006年上半年进行了距离为3 200 m的光束传输实验,对到达角起伏进行了24 h昼夜观测。实验中,每分钟进行一次连续测量,每次以1 kHz的信号采样频率连续采集10 s,得到10 000个到达角起伏实验数据,并反映了0.2~500 Hz频段的信息。根据高采样频率下的到达角起伏昼夜观测数据,分析了到达角起伏效应,并通过到达角起伏时间平滑因子,对曝光时间的平滑作用进行了研究。昼夜观测实验结果表明：在天气阴霾、能见度低的情况下,到达角起伏会显著减小;在强湍流区,到达角起伏出现饱和效应,在弱湍流区,到达角起伏的强度随着湍流强度的增加而增强;到达角起伏幅度随着曝光时间的增加而减小,由归一化协方差拟合关系得到的时间平滑因子计算结果与实验直接分析得到的结果一致。     

Reduction of atmospheric turbulence using optical duplicate system in free-space optical communications

Optical Review - To reduce the effect of atmospheric turbulence and stabilize the optical link in free-space optical (FSO) communications, we have proposed to use an optical duplicate system (ODS)...     

Beam alignments based on the spectrum decomposition of orbital angular momentums for acoustic-vortex communications

Given the enhanced channel capacity of wave chirality, acoustic communications based on the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of acoustic-vortex (AV) beams are of significant interest for underwater data transmissions. However, the stringent beam alignment is required for the coaxial arrangement of transceiver arrays to ensure the accuracy and reliability of OAM decoding. To avoid the required multiple measurements of the traditional orthogonality based algorithm, the beam alignment algorithm based on the OAM spectrum decomposition is proposed for AV communications by using simplified ring-arrays. Numerical studies of the single-OAM and OAM-multiplexed AV beams show that the error of the OAM spectrum increases with the translation distance and the deflection angle of the transceiver arrays. To achieve an ideal arrangement, two methods of the single-array translation alignment and the dual-array deflection alignment are developed based on the least standard deviation of the OAM spectrum (SD-OAM). By decreasing the SD-OAM towards zero using transceiver arrays of 16 transmitters and 16 receivers, accurate beam alignments are accomplished by multiple adjustments in three dimensions. The proposed method is also demonstrated by experimental measurements of the OAM dispersion and the SD-OAM for misaligned beams. The results demonstrate the feasibility of the rapid beam alignment based on the OAM spectrum decomposition by using simplified transceiver ring-arrays, and suggest more application potentials for acoustic communications.     

Geometric transformations of optical orbital angular momentum spatial modes

With the aid of the bosonic mode conversions in two different coordinate frames, we show that (1) the coordinate eigenstate is exactly the EPR entangled state representation, and (2) the Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) mode is exactly the wave function of the common eigenvector of the orbital angular momentum and the total photon number operator. Moreover, by using the conversion of the bosonic modes, theWigner representation of the LG mode can be obtained directly. It provides an alternative to the method of Simon and Agarwal.     

Atmospheric turbulence and orbital angular momentum of single photons for optical communication

The effects of propagation through random aberrations on coherence for single-photon communication systems based on orbital angular momentum states are quantified. A rotational coherence function is derived which leads to scattering equations for azimuthal modes of different orbital angular momentum states. The effect on a single-photon communication system is quantified using the channel capacity. The work shows that the decoherence effect of atmospheric turbulence on such systems is important even for weak turbulence.     

基于拉盖尔-高斯光束的通信系统在非Kolmogorov湍流中传输的系统容量

涡旋波束在大气湍流中的传输有非常重要的理论研究和实际应用意义. 本文基于利托夫近似和广义惠更斯-菲涅耳原理, 推导出拉盖尔-高斯(LG)光束在非Kolmogorov湍流中斜程传输时的螺旋谱, 并进一步推导出系统的容量. 对基于LG光束的通信系统容量进行了数值计算, 并对指数参数、光束波长、天顶角、湍流内尺度、外尺度、结构常数对系统容量的影响进行了分析比较. 本文的结论能够为LG光束在非Kolmogorov湍流中的通信提供一定的参考价值. 关键词： 拉盖尔-高斯光束 非Kolmogorov湍流 平均容量     

Control of orbital angular momentum of light with optical fibers

We present a fiber-based method for generating vortex beams with a tunable value of orbital angular momentum from -1? to +1? per photon. We propose a new (to our knowledge) method to determine the modal content of the fiber and demonstrate high purity of the desired vortex state (97% after 20 m, even after bends and twists). This method has immediate utility for the multitude of applications in science and technology that exploit vortex light states.     

Average capacity of free-space optical systems for a partially coherent beam propagating through non-Kolmogorov turbulence

The performance of partially coherent free-space optical links is investigated in the moderate to strong fluctuation regime of non-Kolmogorov turbulence. The expressions for large- and small-scale log-irradiance flux variance are obtained in non-Kolmogorov turbulence. By employing the gamma-gamma distribution of irradiance fluctuations, the effects of spatial coherence of the source, index of non-Kolmogorov spectrum, and size of the receiver on channel capacity for horizontal links are discussed. Results show that channel capacity presents fluctuating behaviors with the variation of alpha for longer links and increases for alpha values higher than 11/3.     

Observation of orbital angular momentum transfer between acoustic and optical vortices in optical fiber

Acousto-optic interaction in optical fiber is examined from the perspective of copropagating optical and acoustic vortex modes. Calculation of the acousto-optic coupling coefficient between different optical modes leads to independent conservation of spin and orbital angular momentum of the interacting photons and phonons. We show that the orbital angular momentum of the acoustic vortex can be transferred to a circularly polarized fundamental optical mode to form a stable optical vortex in the fiber carrying orbital angular momentum. The technique provides a useful way of generating stable optical vortices in the fiber medium.     

Analysis of average capacity for free-space optical links with pointing errors over gamma-gamma turbulence channels

<正>A novel closed-form expression for average capacity is derived for free-space optical(FSO) links over Gamma-Gamma turbulence channels by considering the effect of misalignment(pointing errors).The simulation results show that the average capacity of the FSO links can be analyzed with the effects of atmospheric turbulence condition,beam width,detector size,jitter variable,and transmitted optical power. Meanwhile,the results are further provided to verify the accuracy of our mathematical analysis.This work is useful for the FSO designer.     

High-accuracy mode recognition method in orbital angular momentum optical communication system

Vortex optical communication has been a hot research field in recent years. A key step is mode recognition in the orbital angular momentum(OAM) free-space optical(FSO) communication system. In this article, we propose an OAM mode recognition method based on image recognition technology, which uses the interferogram between the vortex beam and the Gaussian beam to identify the OAM mode. In order to resist the influence of atmospheric turbulence on the recognition accuracy, we added a Gaussian smo...     

On the distinguishability of downconverted modes with orbital angular momentum

Assuming two quantum states of spontaneous parametric downconversion carrying orbital angular momentum, one may ask the question what is the minimum probability of error in identifying between two of these biphoton states by an arbitrary physical measurement over the biphoton state generated. While correctly chosen geometries may lead to perfect distinguishability of modes, it is worth noticing that experimental subtleties may lead to a poor mode distinguishability. We discuss the case where a restricted range instead of the needed range of wave vectors is collected by the experimental setup. These considerations may be useful for some applications, e.g., cryptography.