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Journal of the Optical Society of America A

Information encoding with a segmented vortex beam

Qian Huang, Shaohua Tao

Published Jun 25, 2024• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

In this paper we propose an information encoding method based on a segmented vortex beam. The segmented vortex beam with a single uniform-intensity ring and a combination of multiple topological charges is designed for information encoding. The radius of the beam can be designed to be arbitrary, with multiple orbital angular momentum states superimposed along the ring. We encoded the information into the segmented vortex beam in the transmitting unit for information transmission. Due to the segmented phase structure of the beam, information can be encoded in each segment, and the information capacity is significantly increased. Additionally, enormous combinations of encoded information in the beam can greatly enhance the security of the encoded information. This proposed method has great potential in free-space optical communication.

DOI
10.1364/josaa.528838

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In this paper we propose an information encoding method based on a segmented vortex beam. The segmented vortex beam with a single uniform-intensity ring and a combination of multiple topological charges is designed for information encoding. The radius of the beam can be designed to be arbitrary, with multiple orbital angular momentum states superimposed along the ring. We encoded the information into the segmented vortex beam in the transmitting unit for information transmission. Due to the segmented phase structure of the beam, information can be encoded in each segment, and the information capacity is significantly increased. Additionally, enormous combinations of encoded information in the beam can greatly enhance the security of the encoded information. This proposed method has great potential in free-space optical communication.
A novel encoding method based on the orbital angular momentum (OAM) mode and radial mode of composite vortex beams is proposed. The superposition of two vortex beams generates 32 different types of composite vortex beams: one of them is a Laguerre–Gaussian (LG) beam with a fixed OAM mode and radial mode, and the other is a LG beam containing four radial modes (p = 0, 1, 2, 3) and eight OAM modes with the same interval (l = ±3, ±5, ±7, ±9). A specially designed composite fork-shaped grating (CFG) is utilized to generate the intensity array pattern, and the received composite vortex beam is diffracted into a Gaussian beam with the relevant coordinates. Based on the coordinates and the number of bright rings in the intensity pattern, the OAM modes and radial modes of the two vortex beams composing the superposition state are determined, and finally the received composite vortex beam is decoded into the initially propagated information sequence. The correctness and effectiveness of the proposed encoding are confirmed through the comparative analysis of the correlation of the optical fields at both the transmitter and receiver in the two scenarios of interval and non-interval encoding. The proposed encoding method can significantly improve the efficiency of information transmission and its resistance to interference, holding great potential for future applications in free-space optical communication.
Information security is a critical challenge in free-space optical (FSO) communications. Several methods have been applied to prevent eavesdropping during information transmission. We propose four operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of the orbital angular momentum (OAM) mode to achieve security in the encoding and decoding of information transmission for optical communications. The transmitted information is decoded by the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of the OAM modes according to the values of the topological charges at different diffraction orders of the vortex beam generated by the vortex Dammann grating. The results show that correct information can be obtained when the four operations of the OAM modes are applied. This method can be used to prevent eavesdropping during information transmission in FSO communication systems.
In recent years, optical information processing has become increasingly important due to its ability to handle large amounts of data efficiently. Amplitude, phase, spatial frequency, wavelength, and polarization are the physical dimensions used for information encoding into the light beam. Information encoding using orbital angular momentum (OAM) carried by a vortex beam is gaining interest in this regard. Such beams provide high-dimensional orthogonal states for encoding and have shown more stability in turbulent media than Gaussian beams, especially in the case of free space propagation. This study demonstrates an image encryption method utilizing an array of OAM light modes. The approach uses a non-interferometric intensity recording-based encoding scheme, which offers ease of implementation. Quick response codes have been utilized for encoding to avoid information loss from non-uniform distribution of light and aberrations. The encryption scheme is highly secure because the encrypted light beam contains only partial information about the object, preventing complete information retrieval without proper key information.
Vortex beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes hold the promise of facilitating high-dimensional symbol mappings for information encryption. However, challenges persist in achieving both high-security and high-capacity encryption with OAM modes, mainly due to limitations in encoding degrees of freedom and compatible decoding methods. Herein, we present an encryption scheme that integrates truncated OAM modes with phase encoding. Truncated OAM modes are hybrid modes that emerges from mode dispersion caused by the absence of amplitude modulation during generation. By combining the generation function with phase encoding, we can modulate the mode dispersion, creating a discrete set of truncated modes. This introduces a phase degree of freedom for encoding information onto the mode spectrum, achieving high-security encryption. The exponential expansion of the phase factors enables the construction of higher-order symbol maps, thereby increasing encryption capacity. As a proof-of-concept, we implemented an optical information encrypting link using 4 OAM modes and 32-order phase encoding, resulting in over 3×104 modulation orders. The neural network successfully decoded the encryption information with 100% accuracy. This scheme offers the potential to incorporate additional OAM modes in the generating function and further partition the phase encoding, enabling even higher-dimensional symbol mapping. These advancements open up new possibilities for advancing high-security and high-capacity information encryption based on OAM modes.
The issues of security and obstruction of line of sight are concerns of wireless optical communications (WOC). In this paper, an analysis of light beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) used for WOC is undertaken. The basic description and conception of OAM of light are given. Encoding information both as the OAM states of a single light beam and as the spatial structure of the mixed light beams with OAM is discussed and compared. Using OAM to encode the data offers an inherent security enhancement. Mixed vortex fields with OAM possess a self-reconstruction property that is able to regenerate and to reconstruct their initial spatial distributions of the complex amplitude in the condition of obstruction of line of sight.
The nondiffracting higher-order Bessel beams carry the orbital angular momentum(OAM). During free propagation,their transverse intensity profile remains nearly invariant in a range.The beam comprises the topological charge l helical phasefronts and carries an orbital angular momentum of lh per photon.The angular momentum number carried by the photon in each eigenmode is represented by l, and the eigenstates |l〉can generate multidimensional quantum entangled states.A method of optical communication is presented that encodes information in two orthogonal orbital angular momentum states based on higher-order Bessel beams.Each photon carries OAM states of information,which can increase the key generation rate of the protocol,and offer a quantum solution for increase of the optical communication distance.