Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 25, 2026

Bringing the Visible Universe into Focus with Robo-AO
Published on: February 12, 2013
Aberration corrections for free-space optical communications in atmosphere turbulence using orbital angular momentum
1Institute of Signal Processing and Transmission, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, China. zhaosm@njupt.edu.cn
Abstract:
The effect of atmosphere turbulence on light's spatial structure compromises the information capacity of photons carrying the Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) in free-space optical (FSO) communications. In this paper, we study two aberration correction methods to mitigate this effect. The first one is the Shack-Hartmann wavefront correction method, which is based on the Zernike polynomials, and the second is a phase correction method specific to OAM states. Our numerical results show that the phase correction method for OAM states outperforms the Shark-Hartmann wavefront correction method, although both methods improve significantly purity of a single OAM state and the channel capacities of FSO communication link. At the same time, our experimental results show that the values of participation functions go down at the phase correction method for OAM states, i.e., the correction method ameliorates effectively the bad effect of atmosphere turbulence.
Related Concept Videos
Conservation of Angular Momentum: Application
Conservation of Angular Momentum
Angular Momentum
Influence of Earth's Curvature and Atmospheric Refraction on Leveling
Circular Orbits and Critical Velocity for Satellites
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) first suggested that the Earth and all other planets orbit the Sun in...
Angular Momentum about an Arbitrary Axis
The velocity of a mass element comprises its translational velocity and the relative velocity instigated by the body's rotation. Substituting the velocity equation into the angular...

