Scintillation of laser beams carrying orbital angular momentum propagating in a near-maritime environment

OPTICS COMMUNICATIONS

卷:458

Article

Wiedemann, Joe¹  Nelson, Charles²  Avramov-Zamurovic, Svetlana³ 

[1] US Naval Acad, Phys Dept, 105 Maryland Ave, Annapolis, MD 21402 USA

[2] US Naval Acad, Elect & Comp Engn Dept, 105 Maryland Ave, Annapolis, MD 21402 USA

[3] US Naval Acad, Weap & Syst Engn Dept, 105 Maryland Ave, Annapolis, MD 21402 USA

关键词: Orbital angular momentum;    OAM;    Laser propagation;    Near-maritime environment;    Scintillation;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.optcom.2019.124836

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Laser beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) were propagated in a near-maritime environment along an 890 meter link across the Severn River at the United States Naval Academy. The OAM beams were generated using green light (lambda = 532 nm) and etched spiral phase plates with different topological charges. The light intensity fluctuations of Gaussian and beams carrying OAM with topological charges of 1, 6, and 8 were measured and the scintillation indices of each beam were compared. Additionally, atmospheric turbulence was measured using a co-aligned scintillometer along the 890 meter propagation path. During testing, a wide range of atmospheric conditions occurred and the refractive index structure parameter measurements ranged from 5 x 10(-14) down to 5 x 10(-15) m(-2/3). Our measurements of transmitted voltage in the radial intensity across the maritime link, and calculated scintillation index, for the Gaussian beam and laser beams carrying OAM indicate a weak reduction in scintillation index for increasing topological charge. To reduce the measurement uncertainty and improve upon statistical significance of our findings, additional testing is needed.

【 授权许可】

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