Title :
Free-space optical transmission with orbital angular momentum division multiplexing
Author :
Martelli, P. ; Gatto, Alberto ; Boffi, P. ; Martinelli, Mario
Author_Institution :
Dipt. di Elettron. e Inf., PoliCom, Politec. di Milano, Milan, Italy
Abstract :
The experimental demonstration of a free-space optical transmission system with orbital angular momentum (OAM) division multiplexing is reported. Two beams have been multiplexed with different values of the azimuthal index l, and hence carrying different OAM, at a wavelength of 1550 nm. The first beam (l = 0) is nearly Gaussian and it features an OAM equal to zero. The second beam (l = 1) is an optical vortex produced by means of a suitable computer-generated hologram, which shows an intensity pattern with a doughnut shape and possesses an OAM of -h per photon. A binary intensity modulation at 1.25 Gbit/s has been applied to each OAM channel and an interferometer with Dove prisms has been exploited for OAM demultiplexing.
Keywords :
angular momentum; demultiplexing; intensity modulation; interferometers; optical communication; optical modulation; telecommunication channels; Dove prism; Gaussian beam; OAM channel; OAM demultiplexing; azimuthal index; binary intensity modulation; computer-generated hologram; free-space optical transmission system; intensity pattern; interferometer; optical vortex; orbital angular momentum division multiplexing; wavelength 1550 nm;
Journal_Title :
Electronics Letters
DOI :
10.1049/el.2011.1766
