Universal crosstalk of twisted light in random media

Structured light offers wider bandwidths and higher security for communication. However, propagation through complex random media, such as the Earth’s atmosphere, typically induces intermodal crosstalk. We show numerically and experimentally that coupling of photonic orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes is governed by a universal function of a single parameter – the ratio between the random medium’s and the beam’s transverse correlation lengths, even in the regime of pronounced intensity fluctuations.