Free-space optical transceiver enabled by polarization independent liquid crystal on silicon phase modulators

We propose using polarization-independent liquid crystal on silicon (PI-LCoS) phase modulators in all-optical free space optical (FSO) transceivers to mitigate the impact of atmospheric turbulence and beam wander. Fiberto- fiber optical signal transmission minimizes signal latency and loss, but direct light coupling from free space into an optical fiber necessitates a sophisticated beam pointing and tracking system. Conventional LCoS phase modulators, while capable of high-resolution beam steering and wavefront correction, face the limitation of singlepolarization modulation. The introduction of a PI-LCoS phase modulator into the FSO transceiver eliminates the need for complex polarization management optics, significantly reducing system complexity and improving overall performance. Such phase modulators perform atmospheric turbulence correction, beam divergence control, and beam steering to allow for efficient optical power coupling into the output fiber.