Reference-Based Wavefront Sensing and Correction Using Integrated Photonics Platform

We present a proof of concept for an integrated photonic interface designed to address the challenge of atmospheric turbulence affecting the optical wavefront in satellite-to-ground downlinks. We demonstrate the potential of a silicon photonic circuit with on-chip sensors as an optically transparent coherent receiver with high correction bandwidth. The proposed chip is equipped with the most compact array of antennas to date for effective wavefront sampling. Our results indicate that the proposed system effectively recovers the signal when the number of on-chip antennas is equal to or exceeds the number of turbulent coherent cells across the wavefront.