OAM-based optical wavelet using a single pixel detection system for probing dynamic environments with application to real-time measurements of strong atmospheric turbulence

This paper presents a novel method for optical probing by generating optical fields with characteristics of wavelets. The optical wavelets form a basis of rotated asymmetric beams with scaled orbital angular momentum (OAM) and beam sizes. The probing method was used experimentally to measure the continuous wavelet transform of a turbulent propagation path, giving insight into the angular properties about a fixed radius. The wavelet transform of a three-dimensional turbulence distribution was measured; the measurements are much faster than the turbulence changes, allowing characterization of an instantaneous realization of turbulence over time. Results show highly localized regions of OAM in space through the turbulence and characteristics of the turbulence can be extracted from the wavelet transforms.