Robust measurement of orbital angular momentum of a partially coherent vortex beam under amplitude and phase perturbations

The ability to overcome the negative effects,induced by obstacles and turbulent atmosphere,is a core challenge of long-distance information transmission,and it is of great significance in free-space optical communication.The spatial-coherence structure,that characterizes partially coherent fields,provides a new degree of freedom for carrying information.However,due to the influence of the complex transmission environment,the spatial-coherence structure is severely damaged during the propagation path,which undoubtedly limits its ability to transmit information.Here,we realize the robust far-field orbital angular momentum(OAM)transmission and detection by modulating the spatial-coherence structure of a partially coherent vortex beam with the help of the cross-phase.The cross-phase enables the OAM information,quantified by the topological charge,hidden in the spatial-coherence structure can be stably transmitted to the far field and can resist the influence of obstructions and turbulence within the communication link.This is due to the self-reconstruction property of the spatial-coherence structure embedded with the cross-phase.We demonstrate experimentally that the topological charge information can be recognized well by measuring the spatial-coherence structure in the far field,exhibiting a set of distinct and separated dark rings even under amplitude and phase perturbations.Our findings open a door for robust optical signal transmission through the complex environment and may find application in optical communication through a turbulent atmosphere.