Using the nonseparability of vector beams to encode information for optical communication

Abstract

In this work, it is experimentally demonstrated that the nonseparability of vector beams (e.g., radial and azimuthal polarization) can be used to encode information for optical communication. By exploiting the nonseparability of a vector beam's space and polarization degrees of freedom using conventional wave plates, it is shown that 2 bits of information can be encoded when applying the identity and three Pauli operators to its polarization degree of freedom. It is also shown that vector beams can be efficiently decoded with as low as 2.7% cross talk using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer that exploits a higher-order Pancharatnam-Berry phase and liquid crystal q-plates.

Spin–orbit laser mode transfer via a classical analogue of quantum teleportation

“…Examples include quantum image control [18], spin to orbital degree of freedom information transfer [19][20][21], quantum cryptography [22][23][24], controlled gates [25,26], quantum games [27], environment-induced entanglement [28], quantum teleportation [29]. The coherent superposition of different transverse modes carrying orthogonal polarizations creates polarization vortices that have been proved useful for classical and quantum encoding of information [30][31][32].…”

Polarization-based control of spin-orbit vector modes of light in biphoton interference

“…Applications of vector beams in classical optics include polarimetry [13,14], optical communication [15,16], kinematic sensing [17], and optical trapping [18][19][20][21]. Furthermore, the nonseparable nature of vector beams has allowed for experiments realizing local classical optics analogs to nonlocal quantum effects [22], including classical analogues to violations of Bell-like inequalities [23], the Hardy test [24], and quantum teleportation [25].…”

Experimental realization of the analogy of quantum dense coding in classical optics

“…[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] By exploiting the local classical optical correlation among different degrees of freedom from the same classical vector beam, dense coding has been demonstrated for classical optical communication. 27 However, the question remains whether or not it is possible to realize the analogy of quantum dense coding in the classical communication system, which is similar to quantum dense coding using pairs of photons entangled in polarization. In this work, we demonstrate that such an analogy in the classical optical communication can be realized by exploiting nonlocal classical optical correlations.…”