Multi-Dimensional Information Encrypted Transmission and Efficient Decryption Using Power-Exponent Airy Vortex Beams

Free space optical communication systems utilizing orbital angular momentum (OAM) have emerged as a promising technology for high-capacity data transmission. However, these systems often struggle with security and robustness, particularly in environments with obstacles and turbulence. In this work, we propose an optical encryption and decryption scheme based on power-exponent Airy vortex (PEAV) beams. In the encrypted transmission, the power-exponent-phase of PEAV is used both for encryption and as a signal carrier channel, while the Airy function modulated amplitude makes the encrypted information against obstacles and turbulence. The multi-dimensional information is encrypted into the power-exponent OAM spectrum through the joint modulation of OAM modes and power orders, which effectively expands the information carrier capacity and the security. With the help of the neural network decoder, the encryption information can be identified with 100% accuracy. As a proof of proposed method, we encoded and transmitted a 50 × 50 pixels color image using 8 OAM modes and 3 power orders in the free space. Simulation and experimental results indicate that this method maintains robust transmission even in complex environments such as atmospheric turbulence and obstruction interference, while achieving a demodulation accuracy of 98%. The proposed approach offers a robust solution for high-capacity optical information encoding, with strong potential for applications that require enhanced data transmission stability and security.