Impact of turbulence in long range quantum and classical communications

TL;DR

This paper investigates how atmospheric turbulence affects long-distance quantum and classical communication by analyzing laser beam propagation over 143 km, proposing turbulence exploitation to enhance signal quality.

Contribution

It provides experimental data on laser propagation over 143 km and introduces a novel approach to use turbulence to improve signal-to-noise ratio in quantum and classical communications.

Findings

Turbulence can be exploited to enhance SNR.

Photon arrival statistics reveal turbulence effects.

Beam scintillation impacts communication quality.

Abstract

The study of the free-space distribution of quantum correlations is necessary for any future application of quantum as classical communication aiming to connect two remote locations. Here we study the propagation of a coherent laser beam over 143 Km (between Tenerife and La Palma Islands of the Canary archipelagos). By attenuating the beam we also studied the propagation at the single photon level. We investigated the statistic of arrival of the incoming photons and the scintillation of the beam. From the analysis of the data, we propose the exploitation of turbulence to improve the SNR of the signal.