Orbital angular momentum transmission in time-varying scattering media using dual orthogonal polarization channels

TL;DR

This paper introduces a robust method for transmitting orbital angular momentum beams through dynamic scattering media using dual polarization channels, enabling high-capacity and accurate optical communication.

Contribution

It presents a novel approach utilizing dual orthogonal polarization channels and cross-correlation decoding for effective OAM transmission in time-varying media.

Findings

Achieves at least 6 bits per beam transmission with 100% accuracy.

Demonstrates robustness to positional variations at the receiver.

Enhances transmission capacity via multiplexed vortex beams.

Abstract

Orbital angular momentum (OAM) has been regarded as a potential dimension for optical communication and related fields. Despite several studies, the transmission of OAM beams through time-varying scattering media remains a challenge. In this paper, we report a method for OAM transmission through time-varying scattering media using dual orthogonal polarization channels, in which one channel carries a perfect vortex beam (PVB) carrying data, and the other serves as a reference plane wave. By calculating the second-order cross-correlation of speckle patterns generated by the PVB and the plane wave, the original data can be decoded. It is also shown that multiplexed PVBs carrying specific topological charges can produce interference patterns in the acquired cross-correlation images, thereby greatly enhancing transmission capacity. Experimental results show that the proposed method can transmit at least 6 bits per beam with 100% accuracy. Moreover, the proposed method is highly robust to variations in the receiving end's position in both radial and axial directions. The proposed method enables the practical deployment of OAM transmission in realistic optical communication and related applications.