Orbital Angular Momentum Waves: Generation, Detection and Emerging Applications

Orbital angular momentum (OAM) has aroused a widespread interest in many fields, especially in telecommunications due to its potential for unleashing new capacity in the severely congested spectrum of commercial communication systems. Beams carrying OAM have a helical phase front and a field strength with a singularity along the axial center, which can be used for information transmission, imaging and particle manipulation. The number of orthogonal OAM modes in a single beam is theoretically infinite and each mode is an element of a complete orthogonal basis that can be employed for multiplexing different signals, thus greatly improving the spectrum efficiency. In this paper, we comprehensively summarize and compare the methods for generation and detection of optical OAM, radio OAM and acoustic OAM. Then, we represent the applications and technical challenges of OAM in communications, including free-space optical communications, optical fiber communications, radio communications and acoustic communications. To complete our survey, we also discuss the state of art of particle manipulation and target imaging with OAM beams

A Study on Asymmetric Perfect Vortex: Fractional Orbital Angular Momentum and Nonlinear Interaction

In this work, the manipulation including generation and detection of the asymmetric perfect vortex (APV) carrying fractional orbital angular momentum (OAM) was demonstrated and discussed. All the manipulation of the modes is in real-time which provides a perfect tool for sensing the dynamic properties of complex media. The OAM-involved nonlinear conversion, specifically the second-harmonic generation (SHG) using the APV and asymmetric Bessel-Gaussian (BG) beams was studied in detail. The generation and detection of the APV are based on the HOBBIT concept which includes acoustic optical deflector (AOD) and log-polar coordinate transformation optics. The RF signal driving the AOD allows the real-time controlling of the OAM modes. Because of the asymmetric property of the modes, the APV beams can carry fractional OAM with a linear one-to-one correspondence of the fractional charges. The feature of the Doppler frequency shift caused by the AOD was introduced and demonstrated which was used to build a Poincaré sphere to encode and decode information. The spatial APV basis was also demonstrated by developing a pulsed 2D HOBBIT system which includes two AODs controlling both the OAM and radial dimensions. Examples using all these HOBBIT systems to sense complex media were given to show the real-time OAM spectrum measurement. The SHG process of the APV and the asymmetric BG beams was discussed. The theoretical and experimental results show how beams with OAM-independent and OAM-dependent sizes behave in the nonlinear process. Both the two beam models gave a very good one-to-one correspondence of fractional charges which shows the potential to use the beam models for information encoding and decoding. Different parameters impacting the OAM-related nonlinear conversion were discussed. These parameters include power density, phase-matching condition, and mode overlapping. Multiple OAM modes nonlinear interaction was also studied. The reverse HOBBIT system was used to verify the multi-mode interaction theory of the APV modes. Using the nonlinear interaction theory of the APV, the 2D HOBBIT was used as the source to excite the SHG process and generate deep UV APV carrying OAM. The effects of how OAM and radial beam size affect the nonlinear interaction were illustrated

Metaoptics for Spectral and Spatial Beam Manipulation

Laser beam combining and beam shaping are two important areas with applications in optical communications, high power lasers, and atmospheric propagation studies. In this dissertation, metaoptical elements have been developed for spectral and spatial beam shaping, and multiplexing. Beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM), referred to as optical vortices, have unique propagation properties. Optical vortex beams carrying different topological charges are orthogonal to each other and have low inter-modal crosstalk which allows for them to be (de)multiplexed. Efficient spatial (de)multiplexing of these beams have been carried out by using diffractive optical geometrical coordinate transformation elements. The spatial beam combining technique shown here is advantageous because the efficiency of the system is not dependent on the number of OAM states being combined. The system is capable of generating coaxially propagating beams in the far-field and the beams generated can either be incoherently or coherently multiplexed with applications in power scaling and dynamic intensity profile manipulations. Spectral beam combining can also be achieved with the coordinate transformation elements. The different wavelengths emitted by fiber sources can be spatially overlapped in the far-field plane and the generated beams are Bessel-Gauss in nature with enhanced depth of focus properties. Unique system responses and beam shapes in the far-field can be realized by controlling amplitude, phase, and polarization at the micro-scale. This has been achieved by spatially varying the structural parameters at the subwavelength scale and is analogous to local modification of material properties. With advancements in fabrication technology, it is possible to control not just the lithographic process, but also the deposition process. In this work, a unique combination of spatial structure variations in conjunction with the conformal coating properties of an atomic layer deposition tool has been utilized to create metal-oxide nano-hair structures that are compatible with high power laser systems. These devices are multifunctional – acting as resonant structures for one wavelength regime and as effective index structures in a different wavelength regime. Discrete and continuous phase functions have been realized with this controlled fabrication process. The design, simulation, fabrication and experimental characterization of these optical elements are presented

Automultiscopic Displays based on Orbital Angular Momentum of Light

Orbital angular momentum (OAM) of light has drawn increasing attention due to its intriguingly rich physics and potential for a variety of applications. Having an unbounded set of orthogonal states, OAM has been used to enhance the channel capacity of data transmission. We propose and demonstrate the viability of using OAM to create an automultiscopic 3D display. Multi-view image information is encoded using an OAM beam array, then sorted into different view directions using coordinate transformation elements. A three-view demonstration was achieved to encode and decode 9 by 9 pixel images. These demonstrations suggest that OAM could potentially serve as an additional platform for future 3D display systems.This research was performed under a joint collaboration between Disney Research and the University of Cambridge through the CAPE consortium. XL, JC and DC would like to thank the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for the support through the Platform Grant for Liquid Crystal Photonics (EP/F00897X/1).This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Institute of Physics via http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/2040-8978/18/8/085608

The NASA SBIR product catalog

The purpose of this catalog is to assist small business firms in making the community aware of products emerging from their efforts in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. It contains descriptions of some products that have advanced into Phase 3 and others that are identified as prospective products. Both lists of products in this catalog are based on information supplied by NASA SBIR contractors in responding to an invitation to be represented in this document. Generally, all products suggested by the small firms were included in order to meet the goals of information exchange for SBIR results. Of the 444 SBIR contractors NASA queried, 137 provided information on 219 products. The catalog presents the product information in the technology areas listed in the table of contents. Within each area, the products are listed in alphabetical order by product name and are given identifying numbers. Also included is an alphabetical listing of the companies that have products described. This listing cross-references the product list and provides information on the business activity of each firm. In addition, there are three indexes: one a list of firms by states, one that lists the products according to NASA Centers that managed the SBIR projects, and one that lists the products by the relevant Technical Topics utilized in NASA's annual program solicitation under which each SBIR project was selected

Phase gradient protection of stored spatially multimode perfect optical vortex beams in a diffused rubidium vapor

We experimentally investigate the optical storage of perfect optical vortex (POV) and spatially multimode perfect optical vortex (MPOV) beams via electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in a hot vapor cell. In particular, we study the role that phase gradients and phase singularities play in reducing the blurring of the retrieved images due to atomic diffusion. Three kinds of manifestations are enumerated to demonstrate such effect. Firstly, the suppression of the ring width broadening is more prominent for POVs with larger orbital angular momentum (OAM). Secondly, the retrieved double-ring MPOV beams’ profiles present regular dark singularity distributions that are related to their vortex charge difference. Thirdly, the storage fidelities of the triple-ring MPOVs are substantially improved by designing line phase singularities between multi-ring MPOVs with the same OAM number but π offset phases between adjacent rings. Our experimental demonstration of MPOV storage opens new opportunities for increasing data capacity in quantum memories by spatial multiplexing, as well as the generation and manipulation of complex optical vortex arrays

Performance Analysis of Massive MIMO-OFDM System Incorporated with Various Transforms for Image Communication in 5G Systems

Modern-day applications of fifth-generation (5G) and sixth-generation (6G) systems require fast, efficient, and robust transmission of multimedia information over wireless communication medium for both mobile and fixed users. The hybrid amalgamation of massive multiple input multiple output (mMIMO) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) proves to be an impressive methodology for fulfilling the needs of 5G and 6G users. In this paper, the performance of the hybrid combination of massive MIMO and OFDM schemes augmented with fast Fourier transform (FFT), fractional Fourier transform (FrFT) or discrete wavelet transform (DWT) is evaluated to study their potential for reliable image communication. The analysis is carried over the Rayleigh fading channels and M-ary phase-shift keying (M-PSK) modulation schemes. The parameters used in our analysis to assess the outcome of proposed versions of OFDM-mMIMO include signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) vs. peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and SNR vs. structural similarity index measure (SSIM) at the receiver. Our results indicate that massive MIMO systems incorporating FrFT and DWT can lead to higher PSNR and SSIM values for a given SNR and number of users, when compared with in contrast to FFT-based massive MIMO-OFDM systems under the same conditions.publishersversionpublishe

Roadmap on structured waves

Structured waves are ubiquitous for all areas of wave physics, both classical and quantum, where the wavefields are inhomogeneous and cannot be approximated by a single plane wave. Even the interference of two plane waves, or a single inhomogeneous (evanescent) wave, provides a number of nontrivial phenomena and additional functionalities as compared to a single plane wave. Complex wavefields with inhomogeneities in the amplitude, phase, and polarization, including topological structures and singularities, underpin modern nanooptics and photonics, yet they are equally important, e.g., for quantum matter waves, acoustics, water waves, etc. Structured waves are crucial in optical and electron microscopy, wave propagation and scattering, imaging, communications, quantum optics, topological and non-Hermitian wave systems, quantum condensed-matter systems, optomechanics, plasmonics and metamaterials, optical and acoustic manipulation, and so forth. This Roadmap is written collectively by prominent researchers and aims to survey the role of structured waves in various areas of wave physics. Providing background, current research, and anticipating future developments, it will be of interest to a wide cross-disciplinary audience.Comment: 110 pages, many figure