Affiliation:
1. Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118, USA
2. Directed Energy Research Center, Technology Innovation Institute, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 9639, United Arab Emirates
Abstract
Free-space optical (FSO) communication can be subject to various types of distortion and loss as the signal propagates through non-uniform media. In experiment and simulation, we demonstrate that the state of polarization and degree of polarization of light passed though underwater bubbles, causing turbulence, is preserved. Our experimental setup serves as an efficient, low cost alternative approach to long distance atmospheric or underwater testing. We compare our experimental results with those of simulations, in which we model underwater bubbles, and separately, atmospheric turbulence. Our findings suggest potential improvements in polarization based FSO communication schemes.
Funder
U.S. Office of Naval Research
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
U.S. Army Research Office
U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce