Experimental demonstration of an on-chip spatial light receiver based on inverse design in free-space optical communication

We propose and demonstrate an experiment to explore the optical reception performance of an on-chip spatial optical receiver based on an inverse design under three distinct turbulent conditions. Experimental results demonstrate that the receiver achieved a maximum emission efficiency of 81% at 1530 nm, with fluctuations of less than 2 dB over the wavelength range from 1530 to 1568 nm. Moreover, the measured mode purity for the generated HG 00 mode varied from 89.5% (at 1568 nm) to 92.9% (at 1530 nm). Additionally, a desktop turbulence experiment on the receiver is carried out. The results indicate that in the absence of turbulence, the received power mainly falls within the range of [−40, −35] dBm. As the turbulence intensity increases, the peak of the received power decreases, shifting from the range of [−50, −45] to [−60, −55] dBm, and further to [−65, −60] dBm. Notably, the power distribution across the three turbulence intensities agrees with a Gamma–Gamma distribution, confirming the feasibility and effectiveness of the receiver.