Date of Award
12-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Electrical Engineering
Committee Chair/Advisor
Eric G. Johnson
Committee Member
Richard J. Watkins
Committee Member
Judson Ryckman
Committee Member
Lin Zhu
Abstract
A large portion of the world is covered in water which introduces a couple of key challenges in communication and sensing systems. The impact of particulates in the water will limit the ability to successfully transmit information through the water. The study of how the channel impacts specific frequencies and the ability to transmit more information at a single time can limit the impact of this environment in how it degrades an optical communication system. In sensing applications, it is important to detect information related to an object’s motion which will either be towards or away from a system, or it will be transverse (left/right and up/down) relative to the target. Objects which more in these directions include anything from blades of a fan or propeller to small waves generated on the surface of the water due to wind or other environmental factors. The use of light which contains transverse information such as orbital angular momentum opens the door for the detection of these different events. The application of an optical system which modifies the frequency of the light being interfered provides unique benefits in removing the need to be accurately centered on the target. Detection of off – center orientations provide significant improvement over current technology. Lastly, there is one other form of information which can be detected when using these forms of light and that is information about a target’s distance from a system and the motion towards or away from it. The control of a beam profile’s spatial structure allows concepts of light detection and ranging to be applied. This overcomes one of the fundamental limitations these systems face in the need for mixing at the receiver. This system also provides the ability to detect an object’s speed which is not achievable in other ranging systems which use this form of light. This work also shows the ability to detect multiple targets which may be present in the beam path.
Recommended Citation
Robertson, Evan, "A Study on Utilizing Coherently Coupled Orbital Angular Momentum Beams for Maritime Sensing and Communication" (2025). All Dissertations. 4098.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/4098