Gigabit per second modulation and transmission of a partially coherent beam through laboratory turbulence

A partially coherent beam (PCB) is modulated at 1 Gbps with pseudorandom bit sequence data stream and propagated through laboratory turbulence. Eye diagrams are measured and compared to those resulting from a fully coherent beam propagated through the same turbulence. Reduced scintillations of the PCB, as measured separately, expectedly result in a higher quality eye as compared to that of a fully coherent beam. Experimental data is supported by numerical modeling. This work demonstrates the feasibility and simplicity of using PCBs for Gbps data rate free-space optical communication through turbulent atmosphere.