Utilizing accelerating plane-wave beams for bendable light communications

Self-accelerating optical beams hav e attracted much attention for potential applications in obstruction-evading bendable free-space communication systems. In this work, accelerating plane-wave beams are used to enable a spatially multiplexed multi-channel free space optical communication scheme. A method for generating and sorting an accelerating plane-wave beam family is proposed and experimentally verified. Employing a family of Airy plane-wave beams in particular, a 7-channel optical communication system with 56-Gbit/s OOK signal per channel transmitted along a parabolic trajectory is demonstrated with an increase in the ability to evade obstructions of up to 0.6 beam waist over that of Gaussian beams. (C) 2021 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement

Automated summary

In this study, a method for generating and sorting an accelerating plane-wave beam family is proposed and experimentally verified for a spatially multiplexed multi-channel free space optical communication scheme. A 7-channel optical communication system is demonstrated with an increase in obstruction-evading ability of up to 0.6 beam waist over Gaussian beams.