High-performance 100 Gbps free-space optical communication via optical pin beam receiver
Free-space optical communication with high transmission bandwidth and small antenna size has been progressively deployed for ground-air-space communications in recent years. However, current mitigation methods, including adaptive optics and transmitter-side beam shaping, are often limited by design complexity and insufficient bandwidth. Here, we propose a receiver-side wavefront correction scheme based on optical pin beam-a ring-shaped, self-healing beam structure-formed via a static phase mask in front of the coupling lens. Unlike traditional optical pin beam methods requiring transmitter-side modulation, our design proactively reshapes the aberrated receiving beam into a stable optical pin beam with extended Rayleigh length, thereby improving mode matching and enhancing coupling resilience under turbulence. In a kilometer-scale outdoor experiment, we demonstrate a 100 Gbps free-space laser link, with coupled power stability increased by 26% and bit error rate decreased by up to 2 orders of magnitude compared with a Gaussian receiver. This receiver-side-only solution simplifies system architecture, ensures high-power compatibility, and offers a low-cost and scalable pathway for future optical ground stations, paving the way for ultra-long-distance, high-speed, and compact Free-space optical communication systems.
Authors
- Hongpeng Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8037-5256)
- Huijian Liang
- Changzhi Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7370-7320)
- Hongwei� Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3807-7989)
- Haiping Mei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1760-3193)
- Meiling Guan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0805-0294)
- Zhigang Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7050-9943)
- Yang Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8711-4593)
- Ze Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2165-1147)
- Yan Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3517-8055)
- Lu Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7934-847X)
- Chengming Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0873-3922)
- Hongyue Xiao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-4912-5605)
- Huahua Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7624-4895)
- Jian Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1060-6412)
- Hongman Zhang
Institutions
- Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (CN)
- China Academy of Space Technology (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Nankai University (CN)
- Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (CN)
- China University of Geosciences (Beijing) (CN)
- Applied Photonics (United Kingdom) (GB)
- Aerospace Information Research Institute (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Communications Engineering
- Published
- 2025-11-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s44172-025-00536-w
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Optical Wireless Communication Technologies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.73
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
- National Science and Technology Major Project
- Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences