Optical communication beyond orbital angular momentum

Trichili, A., Rosales-Guzmán, C., Dudley, A., Ndagano, B. , Ben Salam, A., Zghal, M. and Forbes, A. (2016) Optical communication beyond orbital angular momentum. Scientific Reports, 6, 27674. (doi: 10.1038/srep27674) (PMID:27283799) (PMCID:PMC4901338)

Abstract

Mode division multiplexing (MDM) is mooted as a technology to address future bandwidth issues, and has been successfully demonstrated in free space using spatial modes with orbital angular momentum (OAM). To further increase the data transmission rate, more degrees of freedom are required to form a densely packed mode space. Here we move beyond OAM and demonstrate multiplexing and demultiplexing using both the radial and azimuthal degrees of freedom. We achieve this with a holographic approach that allows over 100 modes to be encoded on a single hologram, across a wide wavelength range, in a wavelength independent manner. Our results offer a new tool that will prove useful in realizing higher bit rates for next generation optical networks.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work has been partially supported by Tunisian-South African bilateral project “Towards spatial mode control in fibers for high bit rate optical communication,” funded by the African Laser Centre (ALC). AT acknowledges financial support from the ICTP affiliated centre “The Optical Society of Tunisia”. CRG acknowledges Claude Leon Foundation and CONACyT for funding.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Ndagano, Mr Bienvenu
• Authors: Trichili, A., Rosales-Guzmán, C., Dudley, A., Ndagano, B., Ben Salam, A., Zghal, M., and Forbes, A.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
• Journal Name: Scientific Reports
• Publisher: Nature Research
• ISSN: 2045-2322
• ISSN (Online): 2045-2322
• Published Online: 10 June 2016
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2019 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Scientific Reports 6:27674
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license