Free space laser telecommunication through fog

Atmospheric clearness is a key issue for free space optical communications (FSO). We present an active method to achieve FSO through clouds and fog, using ultrashort high-intensity laser filaments. The laser filaments opto-mechanically expel the droplets out of the beam and create a cleared channel for transmitting high-bit-rate telecom data at 1.55 mu m. The low energy required for the process allows considering applications to Earth-satellite FSO and secure ground-based optical communication, with classical or quantum protocols. (C) 2018 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement