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Measurement Science and Technology

High-efficiency sorting and measurement of orbital angular momentum modes based on the March–Zehnder interferometer and complex phase gratings

Diancoumba Mamadou, Fei Shen, Maxime Irene Dedo, Qingfeng Zhou, Kai Guo, Zhongyi Guo

Published Mar 8, 2019• 14 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract With the recent exponential developments of high-speed optical communications, traditional optical communications systems are showing their limitations. Over the past decade, the orbital angular momentum (OAM) is attracting more and more research attention, due to its orthogonality between two OAM states, which supplies new degrees of freedom and can be used in fiber or free-space optical communication systems for increasing the communication capacity. Here, we propose a novel OAM de/multiplexing method based on the combination of the March–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) implanted pair of dove prisms (DP) (MZI-DP) and a complex phase gratings (CPG), which can be used to sort and detect multiple OAM modes simultaneously. The fundamental Gaussian beam illuminates the spatial light modulator (SLM) to produce the multiplexed Laguerre–Gaussian modes with different topological charges. The MZI-DP system can sort different OAM modes into odd and even values of topological charges. And then, the designed CPGs perform the concrete measurements of different sorted OAM modes. The propagating directions of different modes are arbitrarily steered by two CPGs in two MZI-DP outputting planes. With this designed system, we can simultaneously sort the OAM modes into odd and even values of topological charges, as well as performing the measurement of a large number of OAM modes without any overlapping between adjacent modes. Furthermore, we have simultaneously demultiplexed 50 different OAM modes and controlled their propagation directions successfully, which shows high-recognition rates and superior performances.

DOI
10.1088/1361-6501/ab0e62

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Abstract With the recent exponential developments of high-speed optical communications, traditional optical communications systems are showing their limitations. Over the past decade, the orbital angular momentum (OAM) is attracting more and more research attention, due to its orthogonality between two OAM states, which supplies new degrees of freedom and can be used in fiber or free-space optical communication systems for increasing the communication capacity. Here, we propose a novel OAM de/multiplexing method based on the combination of the March–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) implanted pair of dove prisms (DP) (MZI-DP) and a complex phase gratings (CPG), which can be used to sort and detect multiple OAM modes simultaneously. The fundamental Gaussian beam illuminates the spatial light modulator (SLM) to produce the multiplexed Laguerre–Gaussian modes with different topological charges. The MZI-DP system can sort different OAM modes into odd and even values of topological charges. And then, the designed CPGs perform the concrete measurements of different sorted OAM modes. The propagating directions of different modes are arbitrarily steered by two CPGs in two MZI-DP outputting planes. With this designed system, we can simultaneously sort the OAM modes into odd and even values of topological charges, as well as performing the measurement of a large number of OAM modes without any overlapping between adjacent modes. Furthermore, we have simultaneously demultiplexed 50 different OAM modes and controlled their propagation directions successfully, which shows high-recognition rates and superior performances.
The desire to increase the amount of information that can be encoded onto a single photon has driven research into many areas of optics. One such area is optical orbital angular momentum (OAM) [1]. These beams have helical phasefronts and carry an orbital angular momentum of mbar per photon, where the integer m is unbounded, giving a large state space in which to encode information. We recently developed a telescope system comprising two bespoke refractive optical elements to transform OAM states into transverse momentum states [2]. This is achieved by mapping the azimuthal position of the input plane to the lateral position in the output [3]. A mapping of this type transforms a set of concentric rings at the input plane into a set of parallel lines in the output plane. A lens can then separate the resulting transverse momentum states into specified lateral positions, allowing for the efficient measurement of multiple OAM states simultaneously. Separating OAM states in this way presents an opportunity for this larger alphabet to improve the data capacity of a free space link and has potential application in both the classical and quantum regimes. We will present our latest design, increasing the bandwidth of measurable states to over 50 OAM modes. In such a system we study the crosstalk introduced by a thin phase turbulence, showing that turbulence similarly degrades the purity of all the modes within this range.
Photons were generated possessing orbital angular momentum (OAM) in the form of Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) laser modes. Three Mach-Zehnder interferometer systems, with the use of Dove prisms, were constructed to sort and detect the LG modes based on their OAM state. Successful generating, sorting, and detecting of LG modes is the first step towards information encoding and decoding via lasers. It is possible to generate many LG modes, which can be orthogonally decoded. With many modes to encode information with it is possible to transfer more than one bit of information with a single photon using LG encoding. An experimental test of this concept was performed by demonstrating the generation and sorting of LG modes with attenuated intensities averaging below one photon passing through the system at a time. In summary, generating, sorting, and low-power detecting of specific LG modes were all demonstrated.
We present an apparatus for multiplexing and demultiplexing free-space beams carrying different values of orbital angular momentum (OAM), at a wavelength of 633 nm. We have considered nondiffracting Bessel beams of order from 0 to 3, produced by means of suitable binary-amplitude computer-generated holograms and carrying an OAM per photon directly proportional to the beam order. The effectiveness of the OAM division multiplexing technique has been experimentally verified by monitoring the output ports of a demultiplexing interferometer with rotated Dove prisms in the arms. This interferometer is capable of discriminating the even-order Bessel beams from the odd-order ones.
Orbital angular momentum (OAM) of photons has both classical and quantum applications due to its feature of optical vortex and infinite dimension. OAM discrimination is one of the basic problems, which has been paid much attention recently. Here we present an interferometer method in which a Sagnac interferometer with a Dove prism is placed on each arm to separate the different OAM of photons into different output ports, namely, OAM sorters. We demonstrate experimentally the feasibility of OAM sorter by dividing different OAM states into different output ports. Using the cascade interferometers, we also sort the superposition state successfully. Experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. Compared with other methods, this method is more stable and can be used to separate superposition states into single photon levels. Furthermore, this method can also be used to couple OAM modes with spatial modes, a very important method for manipulating OAM states. It is a useful method and has potential applications in high-capacity optical communication, quantum entanglement, quantum cryptography, quantum computation and quantum information.
Single photons with orbital angular momentum (OAM) have attracted substantial attention from researchers. A single photon can carry infinite OAM values theoretically. Thus, OAM photon states have been widely used in quantum information and fundamental quantum mechanics. Although there have been many methods for sorting quantum states with different OAM values, the nondestructive and efficient sorter of high-dimensional OAM remains a fundamental challenge. Here, we propose a scalable OAM sorter which can categorize different OAM states simultaneously, meanwhile, preserving both OAM and spin angular momentum. Fundamental elements of the sorter are composed of symmetric multiport beam splitters (BSs) and Dove prisms with cascading structure, which in principle can be flexibly and effectively combined to sort arbitrarily high-dimensional OAM photons. The scalable structures proposed here greatly reduce the number of BSs required for sorting high-dimensional OAM states. In view of the nondestructive and extensible features, the sorters can be used as fundamental devices not only for high-dimensional quantum information processing, but also for traditional optics.