High-speed Laser Communication Research Articles

Dry etching of epitaxial InGaAs/InAlAs/InAlGaAs structures for fabrication of photonic integrated circuits

A dry etching process to transfer the pattern of a photonic integrated circuit design for high-speed laser communications is described. The laser stack under consideration is a 3.2-µm-thick InGaAs/InAlAs/InAlGaAs epitaxial structure grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The etching was performed using Cl2-based inductively-coupled-plasma and reactive-ion-etching (ICP-RIE) reactors. Four different recipes are presented in two similar ICP-RIE reactors, with special attention paid to the etched features formed with various hard mask compositions, in-situ passivations, and process temperatures. The results indicate that it is possible to produce high-aspect-ratio features with sub-micron separation on this multilayer structure. Additionally, the results of the etching highlight the tradeoffs involved with the corresponding recipes.

Highly-enhanced active beam-wander-correction for free-space quantum communications.

In practical applications to free-space quantum communications, the utilization of active beam coupling and stabilization techniques offers notable advantages, particularly when dealing with limited detecting areas or coupling into single-mode fibers(SMFs) to mitigate background noise. In this work, we introduce highly-enhanced active beam-wander-correction technique, specifically tailored to efficiently couple and stabilize beams into SMFs, particularly in scenarios where initial optical alignment with the SMF is misaligned. To achieve this objective, we implement a SMF auto-coupling algorithm and a decoupled stabilization method, effectively and reliably correcting beam wander caused by atmospheric turbulence effects. The performance of the proposed technique is thoroughly validated through quantitative measurements of the temporal variation in coupling efficiency(coincidence counts) of a laser beam(entangled photons). The results show significant improvements in both mean values and standard deviations of the coupling efficiency, even in the presence of 2.6 km atmospheric turbulence effects. When utilizing a laser source, the coupling efficiency demonstrates a remarkable mean value increase of over 50 %, accompanied by a substantial 4.4-fold improvement in the standard deviation. For the entangled photon source, a fine mean value increase of 14 % and an approximate 2-fold improvement in the standard deviation are observed. Furthermore,the proposed technique successfully restores the fidelity of the polarization-entangled state, which has been compromised by atmospheric effects in the free-space channel, to a level close to the fidelity measured directly from the source. Our work will be helpful in designing spatial light-fiber coupling system not only for free-space quantum communications but also for high-speed laser communications.

Integrated photonics for space applications

<p indent=0mm>Since the flourish of the space technology, microelectronic integrated circuits can no longer meet the urgent requirement of the space-based systems in terms of transmission capacity, communication speed and electromagnetic compatibility. The conventional space-based optoelectronic systems are now based on a bulk optical device, which have been seen to possess some fundamental restrictions as regards its size, weight, power and cost. Integrated photonics provides an ideal solution for the above bottlenecks that existed in current space-based systems, and this tends to be an emerging research focus in recent years. In this paper, we focused on the technology of integrated photonics for space applications. First, we briefly introduced the characteristic and the development of several main material platforms for integrated photonics, which are indium phosphide, silicon, and silicon nitride and thin-film lithium niobate. Then, we systematically reviewed the progress of the integrated photonics for various fields of space-based application: high-speed laser communication, microwave photonics, optical sensing, biological health, autonomous navigation and astronomy imaging. The recent breakthrough, which is related to the working principles and critical limitations of these space-based integrated photonics technologies, has been described in detail. Since its operation is utilized in practical space missions and satellites, the integrated photonics devices should therefore, undergo testing of harsh space environments, especially under exposure to different forms of ionizing radiation. Therefore, we also analyze the radiation effects and reliability of the integrated photonics devices which are based on different material platform. Finally, the main achievements which have been recorded in the space-based integrated photonics technology are summarized and the future prospects presented: (i) reducing the power consumption of the integrated photonics circuits; (ii) realizing the photonics chip package with high reliability; (iii) industrialization and low-cost fabrication for the optoelectronic integration.

Tip of the hat

Researchers from China have proposed a hollow top-hat beam (HTB) diffractive optical element (DOE) shaping method, for use in space uplink chaotic communications systems (SUCCS). Simulation results show that by shaping the beam into a HTB, the bit error-rate (BER) improvement is substantial when compared to the traditional hollow Gaussian beam (HGB). The results could be significant for the optimisation of designs relating to SUCCS. Laser communication is a type of communication technique that, unsurprisingly, uses laser beams as a signal carrier, allowing the transmission of images, sound and other data in free space. It has been conceptualised since the development of the first lasers in the 1960s. When compared to more traditional microwave communication, laser communication has the advantages of allowing faster transmission due to higher data-rate (in principle anywhere from 1,000 to 100,000 times faster), a larger communication capacity, smaller terminal size and lower power consumption. It is anticipated that, due to its higher data-rate, laser communication will be the preferred candidate for the problem of bottlenecking when it comes to space uplink communications. Prof Mi Li (left of centre) and his research group. (a) original Gaussian distribution of laser beam (b) hollow Gaussian beam (HGB) shaped by DOE (c) hollow top-hat beam (HTB) shaped by DOE. Space chaotic laser communication system. Reducing the complexity of designing laser communications systems is a hot topic in the research field of free-space communication. Optical antennas play an important role, where they function as beam collators, expanders and convergers – all of which can improve the performance of free-space communication. One of the most commonly used antennas is the Cassegrain reflective optical antenna, featuring a short mirror body, high magnification and elimination of spherical aberrations (which result in blurry images due to numerous undesired focal points). Cassegrain antennas do come with a drawback, however, in that the secondary mirror can block part of the transmission beam, affecting the transmission efficiency of the optical system. The work presented in this issue of Electronics Letters is applicable to space chaotic laser communications systems, which are more complex than ground optical fiber chaotic communication systems. The authors use a DOE to shape a carrier beam into a hollow, top-hat shape (see inset images). DOEs have been widely used in the field of beam-shaping due to the advantages of high diffraction efficiency, flexible design and simple structure. Intelligent shaping of the beam can eliminate the problem of secondary mirrors in a Cassegrain antenna blocking part of the transmission beam. It can also be used to improve the transmission efficiency of the optical sub-system, meaning that the design pressure on other sub-system parameters is eased. DOEs can be used to shape and split laser beams in an energy-efficient manner and are often used in production facilities for laser material processing, or in medical laser treatments and diagnostics. They also see use in lighting, printing and lithography. In short, DOEs are frequently used in areas where shaping and splitting with minimal light loss is necessary. In order to effectively demonstrate how their suggested HTB improves the quality of the communication system, the authors use BER to evaluate their work. They also compare the HTB to a HGB, which they used in previous research works, to see if there is any difference in quality when considering the two shapes for SUCCS. The research considers strong and weak atmospheric conditions, as atmospheric turbulence also plays a role in the BER of signals moving between Earth and orbit. The work shows that, at higher beam power, BER is reduced by around 10−0.9 when using the HTB shaping method at a low chaotic mismatch and 10−1.5 at a high chaotic mismatch. In both scenarios the HTB shaping outperforms the HGB shaping, showing that the HTB is more suitable for SUCCS. In recent years there have been a number of exciting achievements in the free-space laser communication field. Laser communication has moved from concept to practice, Mbps rates to Gbps rates and we are now seeing the next iteration of communication technology. Research scientists are carrying out research work on small-size, high-speed laser communication stations. The work presented here not only improves the efficiency of the beam, but also makes steps towards reducing the design difficulty of other sub-systems within the communication terminal. The authors hope that this work will also allow a meshing of 5G ground wireless communications and space laser communications networks, and even pave the way for easier realisation of 6G in the future.

Experimental Study on PAT System for Long-Distance Laser Communications Between Fixed-Wing Aircrafts

Free-space laser communication is characterized by high communication speed, strong anti-jamming ability, high confidentiality, and flexible configuration. In this paper, a pointing, acquisition, and tracking (PAT) system based on a two-stage (i.e., coarse and fine) composite tracking mechanism is proposed to solve the optical axis alignment problem, which is common in free-space laser communications. The acquisition probability of the PAT system is ensured by designing two tracking modules, a coarse tracking module which combines passive damping with active suppression and a fine tracking module based on an electromagnetic galvanometer. Both modules are combined by using a dynamic scanning mechanism based on the gyroscope signal. Finally, a free-space laser communication test with a long range and a high speed is conducted by two fixed-wing Y12 aircrafts equipped with the proposed PAT system. Experimental results show that the coarse tracking precision of the airborne PAT system is 10 μrad (1σ), and the fine tracking precision is 8 μrad (1σ) during flights which are much improved as compared with the indoor tests. This indicates that the system can achieve a high precision for PAT during high-speed and long-range laser communications in the free-space. This also verifies the tracking capability and the environmental adaptability of the proposed laser communication PAT system.

Experimental results of atmospheric coherent optical communications with adaptive optics

Although there is an urgent need, it is still a significant challenge to establish high-speed laser communication links between satellites to ground stations owing to the influence of atmospheric turbulence. Adaptive optics (AO) is a considerable scheme to solve the problem. In this paper, the primary experiment of satellite-to-ground laser communication with the data rate of 5Gbps and BPSK modulation is carried out through a 500 m horizontal channel with relatively strong turbulence. A 137-element AO unit is used for correcting the phase distortion brought by the turbulence. When the AO unit is working, both the received optical power and bit error rate (BER) (All the eight experimental results of BER at different time are below 10−6.) are improved significantly. The primary results demonstrate that the ground station with AO technology has the capability to establish the satellite-to-ground laser communication links and provide a reference for the design of satellite terminals.

Differential phase-shift keying heterodyne coherent detection with local oscillation enhancement

In the field of intersatellite laser communication, there are two high-sensitivity demodulation methods: binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) coherent detection and differential phase-shift keying (DPSK) coherent detection. After taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of BPSK and DPSK, a DPSK heterodyne coherent detection scheme with local oscillation enhancement is proposed. The structure and the principles of this detection system are described, and the theoretical deduction is presented. Moreover, an experimental setup was constructed to test the proposed detection scheme. The offline processing procedure and results are presented. This scheme has potential applications in high-speed intersatellite laser communication.

Design of a delayed XOR phase detector for an optical phase-locked loop toward high-speed coherent laser communication.

Optical phase-locked loops are an effective detection method in high-speed and long-distance laser communication. Although this method can detect weak signal light and maintain a small bit error rate, it is difficult to perform because identifying the phase difference between the signal light and the local oscillator accurately has always been a technical challenge. Thus, a series of studies is conducted to address this issue. First, a delayed exclusive or gate (XOR) phase detector with multi-level loop compound control is proposed. Then, a 50ps delay line and relative signal-to-noise ratio control at 15dB are produced through theoretical derivation and simulation. Thereafter, a phase discrimination module is designed on a 15 cm×5 cm printed circuit board board. Finally, the experiment platform is built for verification. Experimental results show that the phase discrimination range is -1.1 to 1.1GHz, and the gain is 0.82mV/MHz. Three times the standard deviation, that is, 0.064V, is observed between the test and theoretical values. The accuracy of phase detection is better than 0.07V, which meets the design standards. A coherent carrier recovery test system is established. The delayed XOR gate has good performance in this system. When the communication rate is 5Gbps, the system realizes a bit error rate of 1.55×10-8 when the optical power of the signal is -40.4 dBm. When the communication rate is increased to 10Gbps, the detection sensitivity drops to -39.5 dBm and still shows good performance in high-speed communications. This work provides a reference for future high-speed coherent homodyne detection in space. Ideas for the next phase of this study are presented at the end of this paper.

Design of a Phase Sensor Applied in the Optical Phase-Locked Loop Based on a High-Speed Coherent Laser Communication System

The background of our research is, designing a precise phase detection sensor for high-speed coherent homodyne systems, and combining it with optical phase-locked loops (OPLLs) to achieve coherent demodulation and carrier recovery. For existing phase sensors, there are problems, such as low phase gain, long dead-time, and difficulty in distinguishing directions. Therefore, we proposed a multilevel-loop compound control phase sensor based on exclusive-OR gates. The sensing system consists of three loops. The tunable range of the temperature loop is 30 GHz. Its tuning rate value is 50 MHz/s. In addition, the inner ring consists of a piezoelectric loop and an acousto-optic frequency shifter loop. According to demand, we established a relevant model, and analyzed and calculated the parameters. The reliability and validity of this sensor are substantiated after setting up the experimental environment. The results show that the lock-in range is 30 GHz, the bandwidth is 1.5 MHz, and the real-time performance of the PLL is improved. In a communication test with a rate of 5 Gbps, the realized bit error ratio is $1.55\times 10-8$ when the optical power of the signal is −40.4 dBm. Therefore, this sensor system improves detection sensitivity. At the end of this paper, we propose some ideas to improve sensitivity, which will be the focus of our next phase.

Viterbi equalization for long-distance, high-speed underwater laser communication

In long-distance, high-speed underwater laser communication, because of the strong absorption and scattering processes, the laser pulse is stretched with the increase in communication distance and the decrease in water clarity. The maximum communication bandwidth is limited by laser-pulse stretching. Improving the communication rate increases the intersymbol interference (ISI). To reduce the effect of ISI, the Viterbi equalization (VE) algorithm is used to estimate the maximum-likelihood receiving sequence. The Monte Carlo method is used to simulate the stretching of the received laser pulse and the maximum communication rate at a wavelength of 532 nm in Jerlov IB and Jerlov II water channels with communication distances of 80, 100, and 130 m, respectively. The high-data rate communication performance for the VE and hard-decision algorithms is compared. The simulation results show that the VE algorithm can be used to reduce the ISI by selecting the minimum error path. The trade-off between the high-data rate communication performance and minor bit-error rate performance loss makes VE a promising option for applications in long-distance, high-speed underwater laser communication systems.

New coherent laser communication detection scheme based on channel-switching method.

A new coherent laser communication detection scheme based on the channel-switching method is proposed. The detection front end of this scheme comprises a 90° optical hybrid and two balanced photodetectors which outputs the in-phase (I) channel and quadrature-phase (Q) channel signal current, respectively. With this method, the ultrahigh speed analog/digital transform of the signal of the I or Q channel is not required. The phase error between the signal and local lasers is obtained by simple analog circuit. Using the phase error signal, the signals of the I/Q channel are switched alternately. The principle of this detection scheme is presented. Moreover, the comparison of the sensitivity of this scheme with that of homodyne detection with an optical phase-locked loop is discussed. An experimental setup was constructed to verify the proposed detection scheme. The offline processing procedure and results are presented. This scheme could be realized through simple structure and has potential applications in cost-effective high-speed laser communication.

Analysis of temporal broadening of optical pulses by atmospheric dispersion in laser communication system

In this paper, pulse broadening caused by atmospheric dispersion is analyzed, which is the key factor in high-speed and long-distance free space laser communication systems according to our simulation. The measured datum of atmospheric parameters, including atmospheric pressure and atmospheric temperature of the desert in Xinjiang, China, is used in the analysis of pulses broadening. The pulse broadening caused by atmospheric dispersion is very significant when pulsewidth is on the order of 5ps, and pulse broadening is negligible if the pulsewidth is larger than 20ps. With the increment of optical wavelength, atmospheric dispersion-induced pulse broadening is mitigated. The received pulsewidth is dominated mainly by dispersion-induced pulse broadening at small duty ratio of original signal, and original pulsewidth at large duty ratio of original signal respectively. By selecting proper duty ratio of optical pulse, the received pulsewidth can be minimized and the system bit rate can be maximized.

Scintillation has minimal impact on far-field Bennett-Brassard 1984 protocol quantum key distribution

The effect of scintillation, arising from propagation through atmospheric turbulence, on the sift and error probabilities of a quantum key distribution (QKD) system that uses the weak-laser-pulse version of the Bennett-Brassard 1984 (BB84) protocol is evaluated. Two earth-space scenarios are examined: satellite-to-ground and ground-to-satellite transmission. Both lie in the far-field power-transfer regime. This work complements previous analysis of turbulence effects in near-field terrestrial BB84 QKD [J. H. Shapiro, Phys. Rev. A 67, 022309 (2003)]. More importantly, it shows that scintillation has virtually no impact on the sift and error probabilities in earth-space BB84 QKD, something that has been implicitly assumed in prior analyses for that application. This result contrasts rather sharply with what is known for high-speed laser communications over such paths, in which deep, long-lived scintillation fades present a major challenge to high-reliability operation.

Compact optical antennas using free-form surface optics for ultrahigh-speed laser communication systems

It is envisioned that the next generation of ultrahigh-speed laser communication systems will utilize compact optical antennas equipped with advanced beam tracking and effective fiber coupling mechanisms. Such laser communication systems will be used not only for space communications but also to provide optical links for long-distance terrestrial communications. We present the design of a high-speed laser communication system developed utilizing compact optical antennas with off-axis free-form surface (FFS) mirrors. We describe FFS optical devices and their design contribution in realizing compact optical antennas. Furthermore, an innovative fiber coupling device made from a glass ferrule and fiber is introduced, and with this device it is possible to couple the laser beam seamlessly to a single-mode fiber. We also present a fine tracking mechanism that uses a miniature fine pointing mirror (FPM) incorporated in the antenna. The machanism functions by feeding back the incident angle of the signal detected by a quadrant detector (QD) to the FPM. The achievable actuator response frequency for tracking is approximately 2 kHz, and it has been demonstrated to effectively mitigate the effects of laser beam angle-of-arrival fluctuation as a result of atmospheric turbulence.