Demonstration of high-dimensional free-space data coding/decoding through multi-ring optical vortices

Multi-ring optical vortices are a kind of structured beams that carry orbital angular momentum (OAM) and have concentrical doughnut intensity distributions. In this Letter, we present both theoretically and experimentally a scheme that employs the dimensions of both the OAM states and radial index of multi-ring optical vortices simultaneously to accomplish high-dimensional free-space data coding/decoding transmissions. Such a scheme can further improve the coding efficiency when limited OAM states are available. In the proof-of-concept experiment, 64-ary coding/decoding employing 16 OAM states and four radial indices are present. Also, the coding/decoding performance when facing various atmosphere turbulences is evaluated. Furthermore, a 64 x 64 gray image (totally, 32,768 bits) is also transmitted through multi-ring optical vortices coding in free-space successfully, showing good transmission performance.