Quantum laser encodes color images in single polarized beam

Researchers have achieved control over more than 1,024 spatial modes with fully programmable polarization, representing a leap in manipulating the properties of light. The work demonstrates spatial degree-of-polarization modulation, enabling a new degree of freedom for optical computing and encryption. Color images are directly encoded into a single-wavelength laser by mapping the red-green-blue space to the volume of the Poincaré sphere, and a high-dimensional photonic neural network performs fully parallel classification of these images. These approaches highlight the opportunities enabled by DOP modulation in photonics, cryptography and computing. A system capable of controlling over 1,024 distinct spatial modes of light with programmable polarization and degree of polarization (DOP) has been demonstrated. This breakthrough moves beyond traditional methods of manipulating light by incorporating the statistical properties of polarization, opening avenues for high-dimensional data encoding. The…