Compensation-free high-dimensional free-space optical communication using turbulence-resilient vector beams

Ziyi Zhu, Molly Janasik, Alexander Fyffe, Darrick Hay, Yiyu Zhou, Brian Kantor, Taylor Winder, Robert W. Boyd, Gerd Leuchs and Zhimin Shi ()
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Ziyi Zhu: University of South Florida
Molly Janasik: University of South Florida
Alexander Fyffe: University of South Florida
Darrick Hay: University of South Florida
Yiyu Zhou: University of Rochester
Brian Kantor: University of South Florida
Taylor Winder: University of South Florida
Robert W. Boyd: University of Rochester
Gerd Leuchs: Max Plank Institute for the Science of Light
Zhimin Shi: University of South Florida

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Free-space optical communication is a promising means to establish versatile, secure and high-bandwidth communication between mobile nodes for many critical applications. While the spatial modes of light offer a degree of freedom to increase the information capacity of an optical link, atmospheric turbulence can introduce severe distortion to the spatial modes and lead to data degradation. Here, we demonstrate experimentally a vector-beam-based, turbulence-resilient communication protocol, namely spatial polarization differential phase shift keying (SPDPSK), that can reliably transmit high-dimensional information through a turbulent channel without the need of any adaptive optics for beam compensation. In a proof-of-principle experiment with a controllable turbulence cell, we measure a channel capacity of 4.84 bits per pulse using 34 vector modes through a turbulent channel with a scintillation index of 1.09, and 4.02 bits per pulse using 18 vector modes through even stronger turbulence corresponding to a scintillation index of 1.54.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21793-1

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