Experimental study on short-distance free-space transmission characteristics of OAM beam

Xi Rui; Zhu Bing

doi:10.12086/oee.2019.180386

Article navigation > Opto-Electronic Engineering > 2019 Vol. 46 > No. 6 > 180386

Next Article Previous Article

Xi Rui, Zhu Bing. Experimental study on short-distance free-space transmission characteristics of OAM beam[J]. Opto-Electronic Engineering, 2019, 46(6): 180386. doi: 10.12086/oee.2019.180386

Citation:

Xi Rui, Zhu Bing. Experimental study on short-distance free-space transmission characteristics of OAM beam[J]. Opto-Electronic Engineering, 2019, 46(6): 180386. doi: 10.12086/oee.2019.180386

Experimental study on short-distance free-space transmission characteristics of OAM beam

Xi Rui^1,2,,
Zhu Bing^1,2, ,

1.
Department of Electronic Engineering and Information Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China
2.
Key Laboratory of Electromagnetic Space Information, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China

Fund Project: Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (61377022)

More Information

Corresponding author: E-mail: zbing@ustc.edu.cn

Received Date 17 July 2018

Revised Date 25 October 2018

Published Date 01 June 2019

Abstract

Abstract

The short-distance free-space transmission characteristics of the optical orbital angular momentum (OAM) beam were experimentally studied. The transmission distance is 0~50 m indoors. A digital micromirror device (DMD) was used in the experimental setup to generate the OAM beam. At the receiver, a spatial beam analyzer was used to measure the intensity pattern of the OAM beam. The beam broadening effect of the OAM beam at different transmission distances was studied. The phase pattern of the OAM beam was studied by the interferometric method. At the receiver, a single path Sagnac interferometer (SPSI) was used to separate and detect the intensity of modes of the OAM beam. The effects of energy migration from the sending mode to the sideband modes of the OAM beam were studied. A heater was used to generate the strong turbulence to simulate the influence to the OAM beam mode transmission characteristics. The experimental results show that the OAM beam with large mode topological charge has more deterioration of the mode purity after transmission in the strong turbulence.
- optical orbital angular momentum /
- free-space transmission /
- digital micromirror device /
- Sagnac interferometer

FullText(HTML)

References

[1]	Allen L, Beijersbergen M W, Spreeuw R J C, et al. Orbital angular momentum of light and the transformation of Laguerre-Gaussian laser modes[J]. Physical Review A, 1992, 45(11): 8185-8189. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevA.45.8185 CrossRef Google Scholar
[2]	O'neil A T, MacVicar I, Allen L, et al. Intrinsic and extrinsic nature of the orbital angular momentum of a light beam[J]. Physical Review Letters, 2002, 88(5): 053601. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.053601 CrossRef Google Scholar
[3]	Grier D G. A revolution in optical manipulation[J]. Nature, 2003, 424(6950): 810-816. doi: 10.1038/nature01935 CrossRef Google Scholar
[4]	Chen L X, Lei J J, Romero J. Quantum digital spiral imaging[J]. Light: Science & Applications, 2014, 3(3): e153. doi: 10.1038/lsa.2014.34 CrossRef Google Scholar
[5]	Mirhosseini M, Magaña-Loaiza O S, O'Sullivan M N, et al. High-dimensional quantum cryptography with twisted light[J]. New Journal of Physics, 2015, 17(3): 033033. doi: 10.1088/1367-2630/17/3/033033 CrossRef Google Scholar
[6]	Wang J, Yang J Y, Fazal I M, et al. Demonstration of 12.8-bit/s/Hz spectral efficiency using 16-QAM signals over multiple orbital-angular-momentum modes[C]//Proceedings of the 2011 37th European Conference and Exhibition on Optical Communication, Geneva, Switzerland, 2011: 1-3. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6066145 Google Scholar
[7]	Ren Y X, Wang Z, Xie G D, et al. Free-space optical communications using orbital-angular-momentum multiplexing combined with MIMO-based spatial multiplexing[J]. Optics Letters, 2015, 40(18): 4210-4213. doi: 10.1364/OL.40.004210 CrossRef Google Scholar
[8]	Zhao N B, Li X Y, Li G F, et al. Capacity limits of spatially multiplexed free-space communication[J]. Nature Photonics, 2015, 9(12): 822-826. doi: 10.1038/nphoton.2015.214 CrossRef Google Scholar
[9]	Ramachandran S, Kristensen P, Yan M F. Generation and propagation of radially polarized beams in optical fibers[J]. Optics Letters, 2009, 34(16): 2525-2527. doi: 10.1364/OL.34.002525 CrossRef Google Scholar
[10]	Ren H R, Li X P, Zhang Q M, et al. On-chip noninterference angular momentum multiplexing of broadband light[J]. Science, 2016, 352(6287): 805-809. doi: 10.1126/science.aaf1112 CrossRef Google Scholar
[11]	Fazal I M, Ahmed N, Wang J, et al. 2 Tbit/s free-space data transmission on two orthogonal orbital-angular-momentum beams each carrying 25 WDM channels[J]. Optics Letters, 2012, 37(22): 4753-4755. doi: 10.1364/OL.37.004753 CrossRef Google Scholar
[12]	Wang J, Yang J Y, Fazal I M, et al. Terabit free-space data transmission employing orbital angular momentum multiplexing[J]. Nature Photonics, 2012, 6(7): 488-496. doi: 10.1038/nphoton.2012.138 CrossRef Google Scholar
[13]	Zhao Y F, Liu J, Du J, et al. Experimental demonstration of 260-meter security free-space optical data transmission using 16-QAM carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) beams multiplexing[C]//Proceedings of 2016 Optical Fiber Communications Conference and Exhibition, Anaheim, CA, USA, 2016: 1-3.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7537325 Google Scholar
[14]	Fried D L. Statistics of a geometric representation of wavefront distortion[J]. Journal of the Optical Society of America, 1965, 55(11): 1427-1435. doi: 10.1364/JOSA.55.001427 CrossRef Google Scholar
[15]	邢建斌, 许国良, 张旭苹, 等.大气湍流对激光通信系统的影响[J].光子学报, 2005, 34(12): 1850-1852. Google Scholar Xing J B, Xu G L, Zhang X P, et al. Effect of the atmospheric turbulence on laser communication system[J]. Acta Photonica Sinica, 2005, 34(12): 1850-1852. Google Scholar
[16]	Roux F S. Infinitesimal-propagation equation for decoherence of an orbital-angular-momentum-entangled biphoton state in atmospheric turbulence[J]. Physical Review A, 2011, 83(5): 053822. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevA.83.053822 CrossRef Google Scholar
[17]	Aksenov V P, Pogutsa C E. Fluctuations of the orbital angular momentum of a laser beam, carrying an optical vortex, in the turbulent atmosphere[J]. Quantum Electronics, 2008, 38(4): 343-348. doi: 10.1070/QE2008v038n04ABEH013576 CrossRef Google Scholar
[18]	Anguita J A, Neifeld M A, Vasic B V. Turbulence-induced channel crosstalk in an orbital angular momentum-multiplexed free-space optical link[J]. Applied Optics, 2008, 47(13): 2414-2429. doi: 10.1364/AO.47.002414 CrossRef Google Scholar
[19]	Zhang Y X, Cang J. Effects of turbulent aberrations on probability distribution of orbital angular momentum for optical communication[J]. Chinese Physics Letters, 2009, 26(7): 074220. doi: 10.1088/0256-307X/26/7/074220 CrossRef Google Scholar
[20]	Zhao S M, Wang L, Zou L, et al. Both channel coding and wavefront correction on the turbulence mitigation of optical communications using orbital angular momentum multiplexing[J]. Optics Communications, 2016, 376: 92-98. doi: 10.1016/j.optcom.2016.04.075 CrossRef Google Scholar
[21]	Malik M, O'Sullivan M, Rodenburg B, et al. Influence of atmospheric turbulence on optical communications using orbital angular momentum for encoding[J]. Optics Express, 2012, 20(12): 13195-13200. doi: 10.1364/OE.20.013195 CrossRef Google Scholar
[22]	Tyler G A, Boyd R W. Influence of atmospheric turbulence on the propagation of quantum states of light carrying orbital angular momentum[J]. Optics Letters, 2009, 34(2): 142-144. doi: 10.1364/OL.34.000142 CrossRef Google Scholar
[23]	Rodenburg B, Lavery M P J, Malik M, et al. Influence of atmospheric turbulence on states of light carrying orbital angular momentum[J]. Optics Letters, 2012, 37(17): 3735-3737. doi: 10.1364/OL.37.003735 CrossRef Google Scholar
[24]	Krenn M, Fickler R, Fink M, et al. Communication with spatially modulated light through turbulent air across Vienna[J]. New Journal of Physics, 2014, 16: 113028. doi: 10.1088/1367-2630/16/11/113028 CrossRef Google Scholar
[25]	Lavery M P J, Peuntinger C, Günthner K, et al. Free-space propagation of high-dimensional structured optical fields in an urban environment[J]. Science Advances, 2017, 3(10): e1700552. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1700552 CrossRef Google Scholar
[26]	Ren Y X, Li M, Huang K, et al. Experimental generation of Laguerre-Gaussian beam using digital micromirror device[J]. Applied Optics, 2010, 49(10): 1838-1844. doi: 10.1364/AO.49.001838 CrossRef Google Scholar
[27]	Chen Y, Fang Z X, Ren Y X, et al. Generation and characterization of a perfect vortex beam with a large topological charge through a digital micromirror device[J]. Applied Optics, 2015, 54(27): 8030-8035. doi: 10.1364/AO.54.008030 CrossRef Google Scholar
[28]	Li S X, Wang Z W. Generation of optical vortex based on computer-generated holographic gratings by photolithography[J]. Applied Physics Letters, 2013, 103(14): 141110. doi: 10.1063/1.4823596 CrossRef Google Scholar
[29]	蔡田, 张晓波, 叶芳伟, 等.产生拉盖尔-高斯模的全息光栅实验研究[J].光学学报, 2005, 25(11): 1457-1460. doi: 10.3321/j.issn:0253-2239.2005.11.004 CrossRef Google Scholar Cai T, Zhang X B, Ye F W, et al. Experimental study of the holographic grating to produce the Laguerre-Gaussian modes[J]. Acta Optica Sinica, 2005, 25(11): 1457-1460. doi: 10.3321/j.issn:0253-2239.2005.11.004 CrossRef Google Scholar
[30]	Chong S H, Parthasarathy A B, Kavuri V C, et al. Intraoperative NIR diffuse optical tomography system based on spatially modulated illumination using the DLP4500 evaluation module (Conference Presentation)[J]. Proceedings of SPIE, 2017, 10117: 101170D. doi: 10.1117/12.2253264 CrossRef Google Scholar
[31]	Wang F X, Chen W, Li Y P, et al. Single-path Sagnac interferometer with Dove prism for orbital-angular-momentum photon manipulation[J]. Optics Express, 2017, 25(21): 24946-24959. doi: 10.1364/OE.25.024946 CrossRef Google Scholar
[32]	Moreno I, Paez G, Strojnik M. Polarization transforming properties of Dove prisms[J]. Optics Communications, 2003, 220(4-6): 257-268. doi: 10.1016/S0030-4018(03)01423-8 CrossRef Google Scholar
[33]	Jaiswal V K, Singh R P, Simon R. Producing optical vortices through forked holographic grating: study of polarization[J]. Journal of Modern Optics, 2010, 57(20): 2031-2038. doi: 10.1080/09500340.2010.515748 CrossRef Google Scholar
[34]	丁攀峰, 蒲继雄.拉盖尔高斯涡旋光束的传输[J].物理学报, 2011, 60(9): 094204. Google Scholar Ding P F, Pu J X. Propagation of Laguerre-Gaussian vortex beam[J]. Acta Physica Sinica, 2011, 60(9): 094204. Google Scholar
[35]	Yura H T. Short-term average optical-beam spread in a turbulent medium[J]. Journal of the Optical Society of America, 1973, 63(5): 567-572. doi: 10.1364/JOSA.63.000567 CrossRef Google Scholar
[36]	Barry J D, Mecherle G S. Beam pointing error as a significant design parameter for satellite-borne, free-space optical communication systems[J]. Optical Engineering, 1985, 24(6): 241049. doi: 10.1117/12.7973628 CrossRef Google Scholar
[37]	Yang F, Cheng J L, Tsiftsis T A. Free-space optical communications with generalized pointing errors[C]//Proceedings of 2013 IEEE International Conference on Communications, Budapest, Hungary, 2013: 3943-3947. Google Scholar
[38]	张韵, 王翔, 赵尚弘, 等. Exponentiated Weibull大气湍流下PSK-OFDM机载光链路性能分析[J].光电工程, 2018, 45(2): 170540. doi: 10.12086/oee.2018.170540 CrossRef Google Scholar Zhang Y, Wang X, Zhao S H, et al. BER performance for PSK-OFDM optical link over Exponentiated Weibull atmospheric turbulence[J]. Opto-Electronic Engineering, 2018, 45(2): 170540. doi: 10.12086/oee.2018.170540 CrossRef Google Scholar
[39]	Andrews L C, Phillips R L. Laser Beam Propagation Through Random Media[M]. 2nd ed. Bellingham, WA: SPIE Press, 2005. Google Scholar
[40]	Beckmann P, Spizzichino A. The Scattering of Electromagnetic Waves from Rough Surfaces[M]. Norwood, MA: Artech House, 1987: 511. Google Scholar
[41]	Vasnetsov M V, Pas'Ko V A, Soskin M S. Analysis of orbital angular momentum of a misaligned optical beam[J]. New Journal of Physics, 2005, 7(1): 46. doi: 10.1088/1367-2630/7/1/046 CrossRef Google Scholar
[42]	Abramowitz M, Stegun I A. Handbook of Mathematical Functions: with Formulas, Graphs, and Mathematical Tables[M]. Wash: US GPO, 1964. Google Scholar
[43]	倪小龙, 宋卢军, 姜会林, 等.对流式湍流模拟装置湍流模拟稳定性研究[J].激光与光电子学进展, 2015, 52(10): 100102. doi: 10.3788/lop52.100102 CrossRef Google Scholar Ni X L, Song L J, Jiang H L, et al. Research on turbulence stability characteristic of convection turbulence simulator[J]. Laser & Optoelectronics Progress, 2015, 52(10): 100102. doi: 10.3788/lop52.100102 CrossRef Google Scholar

Overview

Overview

Overview: Orbital angular momentum (OAM) of light as a degree of freedom provides an infinite number of orthogonality states with different mode topological charges. The application of OAM mode multiplexing technology in free space and fiber optical communication has become one of the most active research areas of communication. A huge challenge for OAM beam free space optical communication system is the disturbance of atmospheric turbulence. The effects include beam point jitter, intensity and phase fluctuation, damage beam pattern and crosstalk between OAM modes. Mode purity of OAM beam is very important for free space OAM mode multiplexing optical communication system. Therefore, it is significant to carry out experimental research on the actual free space transmission of OAM beams.

The short-distance free-space transmission characteristics of the OAM beam were experimentally studied. The transmission distance is 0~50 m indoors. The atmospheric environment is weak and stable. A digital micromirror device (DMD) was used to generate the OAM beam in the experimental setup. The DMD model is DLP4500 with micromirror numbers of 912×1140. At the receiver, a spatial beam analyzer was used to measure the intensity pattern of the OAM beam. The beam analyzer uses a 12-bit 1.4 megapixel CCD as the detector. The detection aperture size is 9.5 mm and the pixel size is 6.45 μm×6.45 μm. The beam broadening effect of the OAM beam at different transmission distances was studied. The measured data was compared with the theoretical results of the OAM beam propagation broadening calculated by the Fresnel diffraction model, which verifies they are consistent in trend. The phase pattern of the OAM beam was studied by the interferometric method. At the receiver, a single path Sagnac interferometer (SPSI) was used to separate and detect the intensity of modes of the OAM beam. The SPSI has higher stability than the Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The effects of energy coupling between the sending mode and the sideband modes of the OAM beam were studied. An electric heater was used to generate the strong turbulence to simulate the influence to the OAM beam mode transmission characteristics. The average pointing deviation was characterized turbulence strength approximately.

The experimental results show that the longer transmission distance and stronger turbulence cause larger energy coupling of the OAM beam from the sending mode to the sideband modes, and the OAM beam with larger mode topological charge has more deterioration of the mode purity after transmission in the strong turbulence. The results are helpful for analyzing the bit error rate (BER) characteristics of the OAM mode multiplexed optical communication system.