Features of the phase fluctuation structure of a laser beam in a turbulent medium

A method for reconstruction of the laser beam phase from shearing interferograms using separation of the amplitude and phase parts of the spatial spectrum is proposed and tested both numerically and experimentally with a laboratory model of the turbulent atmosphere, which allows purposefully varying the state of turbulence and controlling its parameters. Amplitude-phase correlation in the fluctuation structure of the laser beam that passed through turbulent medium is investigated. The recorded correlation coefficient typical of weak fluctuations varies in the range of 0.2 to 0.3.