Binary phase-only filtering for turbulence compensation in fiber-coupled free-space laser communication systems

Binary wavefront control in the focal plane (i.e., binary phase-only filtering) for partial compensation of atmospheric turbulence in fiber-coupled free-space laser communication systems is investigated. Numerical results from wave-optics simulations show that in an air-to-air scenario, the combinat...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inApplied optics (2004) Vol. 46; no. 34; p. 8335
Main Authors Crabtree, Peter, Woods, Charles L, Khoury, Jed, Goda, Matthew
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.12.2007
Online AccessGet more information

Cover

More Information
Summary:Binary wavefront control in the focal plane (i.e., binary phase-only filtering) for partial compensation of atmospheric turbulence in fiber-coupled free-space laser communication systems is investigated. Numerical results from wave-optics simulations show that in an air-to-air scenario, the combination of binary phase-only filtering and centroid tracking provides mean fiber coupling efficiency close to that resulting from ideal least-squares adaptive optics, but without the requirement for direct wavefront sensing. This result suggests a simpler and less computationally demanding turbulence mitigation system that is more readily applied to tactical applications.
ISSN:1559-128X
DOI:10.1364/AO.46.008335