We examine the propagation of optical beams possessing different polarization states and spatial modes through the Ottawa River in Canada. A Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor is used to record the distorted beam's wavefront. The turbulence in the underwater channel is analysed, and associated Zernike coefficients are obtained in real-time. Finally, we explore the feasibility of transmitting polarization states as well as spatial modes through the underwater channel for applications in quantum cryptography.
@article{arxiv.1905.09437,
title = {Characterization of an underwater channel for quantum communications in the Ottawa River},
author = {Felix Hufnagel and Alicia Sit and Florence Grenapin and Frédéric Bouchard and Khabat Heshami and Duncan England and Yingwen Zhang and Benjamin J. Sussman and Robert W. Boyd and Gerd Leuchs and Ebrahim Karimi},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1905.09437},
year = {2019}
}