Photon-per-Bit Receiver for Deep Space Communications

Overview

A team of researchers from the University of Chambers in Sweden has improved satellite receivers for deep space communications by reducing the signal to noise ratio which increases the sensitivity of the receiver. This improvement allows for multi- Gigabits per second data transmission with fewer photons within the nonlinearity of space.

The team of researchers lead by Dr. Ravikiran Kakarla, were able to achieve remarkable results of bit-error free and one photon-per-bit (PPB) at an information rate of 10.5 GB/sec by using a Phase-Sensitive-Optical-Amplifier (PSOA). PSOA is a component that reduces the loss of a transmission fiber to ensure signal integrity; this is achieved by narrowing the bandwidth amplification of the transmitted frequency and reducing the outside noise.

 

Electrical set up used by Dr. Kakarla, on the bottom right is the PSOA and the output power with respect to wavelength

Related Links

Paper: One Photon-per-Bit Reciever using Near-Noiseless Phase Sensitive Amplification

Image: Electrical configuration with PSOA