OPTICAL POLARIZATION AZIMUTH MODULATION (POLAM) HETERODYNE-DETECTION SYSTEM

In coherent optical space communication systems, the phase noise gener ated from high power laser diodes and the polarization axis mismatch b etween transmitter and receiver are the serious problem. In this paper , a novel coherent optical space communication system, called optical polarization azimuth modulation (POLAM)/heterodyne detection system is newly proposed, and its system performance is theoretically investiga ted. It is clarified that the POLAM system can perfectly remove the la ser phase noise, is actually insensitive to the polarization axis mism atch, and can provide the remarkable performance improvement compared to a conventional optical frequency modulation system.