Turbulence-resistant self-focusing vortex beams

Abstract

We consider recently introduced self-focusing fields that carry orbital angular momentum (OAM) [Opt. Lett. $\text{46}$, 2384$-$2387 (2021)] and in particular, their propagation properties through a turbulent ocean. We show that this type of field is especially robust against turbulence induced degradation, when compared to a completely coherent beam. In moderately strong oceanic turbulence, the self-focusing OAM beam features over five orders of magnitude higher peak intensities at the receiver plane, an $\sim$80 $\%$ detection probability for the signal mode, as well as an energy transmission efficiency in excess of 70 $\%$ over a link of $\sim$100 m. Counter-intuitively, the focusing properties of such fields may be enhanced with increasing turbulence, causing the mean squared waist to become smaller with greater turbulence strength. Our results demonstrate that certain types of partial coherence may be highly desirable for optical telecommunication employing OAM.

References in corpus (5)

• Electromagnetic Angular Momentum
• Electromagnetic Force and Momentum
• Influence of Atmospheric Turbulence on Optical Communications using Orbital Angular Momentum for Encoding
• A unified matrix representation for spin and orbital angular momentum in partially coherent beams
• The orbital angular momentum of a turbulent atmosphere and its impact on propagating structured light fields