Separating arbitrary free-space beams with an integrated photonic processor

Milanizadeh, M. et al. (2022) Separating arbitrary free-space beams with an integrated photonic processor. Light: Science and Applications, 11, 197. (doi: 10.1038/s41377-022-00884-8)

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Abstract

Free-space optics naturally offers multiple-channel communications and sensing exploitable in many applications. The different optical beams will, however, generally be overlapping at the receiver, and, especially with atmospheric turbulence or other scattering or aberrations, the arriving beam shapes may not even be known in advance. We show that such beams can be still separated in the optical domain, and simultaneously detected with negligible cross-talk, even if they share the same wavelength and polarization, and even with unknown arriving beam shapes. The kernel of the adaptive multibeam receiver presented in this work is a programmable integrated photonic processor that is coupled to free-space beams through a two-dimensional array of optical antennas. We demonstrate separation of beam pairs arriving from different directions, with overlapping spatial modes in the same direction, and even with mixing between the beams deliberately added in the path. With the circuit’s optical bandwidth of more than 40 nm, this approach offers an enabling technology for the evolution of FSO from single-beam to multibeam space-division multiplexed systems in a perturbed environment, which has been a game-changing transition in fiber-optic systems.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Klitis, Dr Charalambos and Sorel, Professor Marc
Authors: Milanizadeh, M., SeyedinNavadeh, S., Zanetto, F., Grimaldi, V., De Vita, C., Klitis, C., Sorel, M., Ferrari, G., Miller, D. A.B., Melloni, A., and Morichetti, F.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
Journal Name:Light: Science and Applications
Publisher:Springer Nature
ISSN:2047-7538
ISSN (Online):2047-7538
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2022 The Authors
First Published:First published in Light: Science and Applications 11: 197
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
304171SuperpixelMartin LaveryEuropean Commission (EC)829116ENG - Electronics & Nanoscale Engineering