Convergence of general beams into Gaussian intensity profiles after propagation in turbulent atmosphere

It is shown that a general shaped laser beam will eventually approach a Gaussian average intensity profile after propagation in turbulent atmosphere. In our formulation, source field at the exit plane of the laser is taken as the product of arbitrary functions of source transverse coordinates with Gaussian exponential modulations. Following the expansion of the arbitrary functions in terms of Hermite polynomials, the average receiver intensity expression is derived using the extended Huygens-Fresnel principle and the conditions for the intensity profile to assume a Gaussian shape are stated. The results are illustrated by simulating various source field distributions.     

Propagation offset characteristics of annular laser beams from confocal unstable resonators through the natural atmosphere

Based on the laser field from a positive confocal unstable resonator (ab initio), the propagation characteristics of the beam through atmosphere are investigated by means of fast Fourier transform (FFT), and it is assumed that the refractive index and absorption of atmosphere are only decided by the air molecules. Considering the thermal effects of the laser beam and wind velocity of air, we evaluate the beam offsets, beam spreading, and beam qualities of the laser field transmitting from the resonator through the natural atmosphere. Meanwhile, the far-field intensity distributions of the laser beam with various intensities in the atmosphere are obtained. It is shown that the far-field diffraction patterns are deformed due to absorption of air and wind velocity. β parameter and Strehl ratio, which are usually used for high-power lasers, are introduced to estimate the beam quality characteristics. With increasing the intensity of the beam, the far-field diagram patterns are outspreaded, the peak intensities reduced, the peak centers shifted, and the beam quality characteristics greatly degraded.     

Change in degree of coherence of partially coherent electromagnetic beams propagating through atmospheric turbulence

We study the change in the degree of coherence of partially coherent electromagnetic beam (so called electromagnetic Gaussian Schell-model beam). It is shown analytically that with a fixed set of source parameters and under a particular atmospheric turbulence model, an electromagnetic Gaussian Schell-model beam propagating through atmospheric turbulence reaches its maximum value of coherence after the beam propagates a particular distance, and the effective width of the spectral degree of coherence also has its maximum value. This phenomenon is independent of the used turbulence model. The results are illustrated by numerical curves.     

Propagation characteristics of the rectangular flattened Gaussian beams through circular apertured and misaligned optical systems

Based on the fact that a hard aperture function can be expanded into a finite sum of complex Gaussian functions, the approximate analytical expression for the output field distribution of a rectangular flattened Gaussian beam passing through a circular apertured and misaligned paraxial ABCD system is derived. The result brings more convenient for studying its propagation than the usual way by using diffraction integral directly. Some numerical simulations are also given for illustrating the propagation properties of a rectangular flattened Gaussian beam through a circular apertured and misaligned optical system.     

Propagation analysis of flattened circular Gaussian beams with a circular aperture in turbulent atmosphere

The propagation properties of flattened Gaussian beam with aperture in turbulent atmosphere have been studied by using the extended Huygens-Fresnel principle. From the study and numerical calculation, the effects of aperture on the propagation of flattened Gaussian beams in turbulent atmosphere have been illuminated. It shows that when the value of the truncation parameter δ is bigger, for example δ?2, the effects of aperture on the propagation properties are too small to be neglected. But when the truncation parameter δ is smaller, for example δ<2, the effects of aperture are complex. The peak value of the average intensity descends more rapidly and the beam spot spreads quicker with aperture than that without aperture when the propagation distance increases. Meanwhile, with the propagation distance increasing, the average intensity profiles of flattened Gaussian beams gradually convert into Gaussian average intensity profiles. In addition, some limiting cases are also discussed. It agrees with the existing results.     

Depolarization characteristics of incompletely polarized and partially coherent laser beams in slant atmospheric turbulence

Based on the cross-spectral density function of transmission theory and the unified theory of coherence and polarization, the depolarization characteristics of incompletely polarized and partially coherent laser propagation in slant atmospheric turbulence are investigated. According to extended Huygens–Fresnel principle, the analytical expressions for intensity and degree of polarization in the slant path are derived. The effects of the wavelength, the initial spot size and the transmission distance on the intensity and degree of polarization are described. The results show that a more stable distribution of the degree of polarization at the receiver is obtained with increasing wavelength for a certain receiver height. The conclusions play an important role in optical communications and target recognition.     

Changes in the coherence of quasi-monochromatic electromagnetic Gaussian Schell-model beams propagating through turbulent atmosphere

Based on the extended Huygens-Fresnel principle, the mutual coherence function of quasi-monochromatic electromagnetic Gaussian Schell-model (EGSM) beams propagating through turbulent atmosphere is derived analytically. By employing the lateral and the longitudinal coherence length of EGSM beams to characterize the spatial and the temporal coherence of the beams, the behavior of changes in the spatial and the temporal coherence of those beams is studied. The results show that with a fixed set of beam parameters and under particular atmospheric turbulence model, the lateral coherence of an EGSM beam reaches its maximum value as the beam propagates a certain distance in the turbulent atmosphere, then it begins degrading and keeps decreasing along with the further distance. However, the longitudinal coherence length of an EGSM beam keeps unchanging in this propagation. Lastly, a qualitative explanation is given to these results.     

Propagation of Four-Petal Gaussian Beams in Turbulent Atmosphere

An analytical expression for the average intensity of four-petal Gaussian beams in turbulent atmosphere is derived. Studies show that in turbulent atmosphere, the contour lines of four-petal Gaussian beams with lower order N evolve into a number of petals with the increase in propagation distance, the contour lines with higher order N can reserve four-petal distribution at longer propagation distance than that with lower order N. These properties are similar to those in free space. However, with further increases of the propagation distance, the contours lines in turbulent atmosphere are different from those in free space.     

Transmittance of partially coherent cosh-Gaussian, cos-Gaussian and annular beams in turbulence

Average relative power transmittance is evaluated, by incorporating atmospheric turbulence, for partially coherent cosh-Gaussian, cos-Gaussian, Gaussian and annular beams. For all the collimated versions of these beams, against the increasing propagation length, there is a typical trend of the decrease in the relative average power transmittance with incremental drop being much less for partially coherent cos-Gaussian beams. The change in the transmittance versus the propagation length will be similar to the corresponding collimated cases, when these beams are focused at a certain focal length. Also partially coherent beams are less sensitive to propagation length changes, except for cos-Gaussian case. Partially coherent cosh-Gaussian beams exhibit a drop in the transmittance as the displacement parameter of the beam is made larger, whereas this trend is just the opposite for partially coherent cos-Gaussian beams. When examined versus the source size, for all the four types of beams, the transmittance has a similar behavior, i.e., it becomes high at small source sizes, falling with increasing source size, and following a dip, it starts to rise, eventually approaching the plane wave limit of unity. The occurrence of the dip coincides with the smallest source size for cosh-Gaussian, with the largest for cos-Gaussian, and about the same source size for Gaussian and annular beams. In general, the average relative power transmittance of coherent beam is affected much more than the partially coherent beams against the variations in source properties.     

Angular spread of Gaussian Schell-model array beams propagating through atmospheric turbulence

The closed-form expression for the angular spread of Gaussian Schell-model (GSM) array beams propagating through atmospheric turbulence is derived. It is shown that the angular spread θ _sp of GSM array beams for the superposition of the cross-spectral density function is smaller than of those for the superposition of the intensity. However, the θ _sp of GSM array beams for the superposition of the intensity is less sensitive to turbulence than that for the superposition of the cross-spectral density function. For the superposition of the cross-spectral density function, θ _sp of GSM array beams with smaller coherence length σ ₀, smaller waist width w ₀, smaller beam number N, and larger separation distance x _d are less affected by turbulence than of those with larger σ ₀,w ₀,N, and smaller x _d ; while, for the superposition of the intensity, the effect of turbulence on θ _sp is independent of N and x _d . In addition, the angular spread is nearly the same for the two types of superposition when σ ₀ or w ₀ is small enough, or x _d is large enough. On the other hand, it is found that there exist equivalent GSM array beams for the two types of superposition which may have the same directionality as the corresponding fully coherent Gaussian beam in free space and also in turbulence.     

Vectorial Nonparaxial Four-Petal Gaussian Beams and Their Propagation in Free Space

The vectorial nonparaxial four-petal Gaussian beam （FPGB） is introduced. The closed-form propagation expressions for the free-space propagation of FPGBs are derived and their more general applicable advantages are illustrated analytically and numerically. Some special interesting cases, in particular the paraxial one, are discussed. It is found that the parameter f = 1/kwo with the k being the wave number and wo being the waist width plays a crucial role in determining the nonparaxiallity of FPGBs. For small values of the f parameter the paraxial approximation is allowable. In the nonparaxial regime the beam order n additionally affects the vectorial and nonparaxial behaviour of FPGBs.     

Propagation of a stochastic electromagnetic Gaussian Schell-model beam through an optical system in turbulent atmosphere

A generalized diffraction integral formula for stochastic electromagnetic beams propagating through an optical system in turbulent atmosphere is derived with the help of tensor method. Some analyses are illustrated by a numerical example relating to changes in the average intensity and the degree of polarization of an electromagnetic Gaussian Schell-model beam propagating through a double-lenses system. It is shown that the optical system has strong influence on the propagation properties of the beam. The method used in this paper can be widely applied to the propagation of astigmatic beams through an optical system in turbulent atmosphere.     

Beam wander characteristics of cos and cosh-Gaussian beams

Within the context of a general beam formulation, beam wander characteristics of cos and cosh-Gaussian beams are derived and numerically evaluated. In our graphs, the fundamental Gaussian beam is used as a benchmark for comparisons. The associated plots reveal that at small source sizes, a cos-Gaussian beam has the lowest beam wander, while this property is enhanced with increasing values of the displacement parameter. At large source sizes however, this advantage is taken over by cosh-Gaussian beam. Joint examination against the changing source sizes and propagation lengths shows that the range of source sizes, where the beam wander of cos-Gaussian beam remains lower, is enlarged as we go toward higher propagation lengths. Asymmetric beams tend to exhibit higher beam wanders both at small and large source sizes, but for the intermediate source size ranges, the beam wanders of asymmetric beams will fall below those of the symmetric beams. Explanations concerning these behaviors are offered. A historical account of beam wander formulation is also included.     

Conversion of high-order Laguerre-Gaussian beams into Bessel beams of increased, reduced or zeroth order by use of a helical axicon

We propose a new method for transformation of a Laguerre-Gaussian beam of azimuthal index l and radial index n = 0 (LG_l,0) into a vortex, diverging or nondiverging Bessel beam, which can have increased or decreased phase singularity order, or into a zeroth order Bessel beam, by means of a helical axicon. The Bessel beam divergence or nondivergence depends upon the waist position of the input Laguerre-Gaussian beam, regarding the plane where the helical axicon is situated.The expressions for the amplitude and the intensity distribution of the diffracted wave field, in the process of Fresnel diffraction, are deduced using the stationary phase method. The theoretical analysis for the vortex radius and the maximum propagation distance of the Bessel beams obtained is presented.     

Numerical Simulation for Coherent and Partially Coherent Beam Propagation through Atmospheric Turbulence

Propagation properties of coherent and partially coherent beams in atmospheric turbulence are investigated respectively by using numerical simulation It is found that a partially coherent beam has a spreading larger than a coherent beam. However, from the point view of relative beam spreading and intensity scintillation, a partially coherent beam is less affected than the corresponding coherent beam, which may be the most important virtue of partially coherent beams that could be utilized to improve the performance of laser engineering. The beam wandering is almost independent of the degree of the source coherence. More aperture averaging occurs when beam becomes more coherent.     

Propagation characteristics of stochastic electromagnetic array beams

A stochastic electromagnetic array beam that is generated by an electromagnetic Gaussian Schell-model source is introduced by using tensor method. An analytical expression for the cross-spectral density matrix of the stochastic electromagnetic array beam propagating in a paraxial ABCD optical system is derived after performing vector integration. Some numerical calculations are illustrated for the propagation characteristics of such an array beam in free space and fractional Fourier transform (FRFT) system as application examples.     

Statistical properties of correlated radial stochastic electromagnetic array beams on propagation

A kind of array beam named the correlated radial stochastic electromagnetic array beam that is generated by an electromagnetic Gaussian Schell-model source is introduced by use of tensor method. The analytical expression for the cross-spectral density matrix of this array beam propagating through the turbulent atmosphere and in free space is obtained after performing vector integration. Some typical numerical calculations are illustrated for the changes in the spectral density, spectral degree of polarization, and spectral degree of coherence of the beam on propagation. We find that the atmospheric turbulence can destroy the correlated effect among the beamlets.     

Off-axis Gaussian Schell-model beam and partially coherent laser array beam in a turbulent atmosphere

The propagation of an off-axis Gaussian Schell-model (GSM) beam in a turbulent atmosphere is investigated based on the extended Huygens-Fresnel integral formula. Analytical formulae for the cross-spectral density and corresponding partially coherent complex curvature tensor of an off-axis GSM beam propagating in a turbulent atmosphere are derived. Based on these formulae, the propagation properties of such kind of beam in a turbulent atmosphere are investigated in detail. Furthermore, the methods are extended to investigate the propagation properties of a partially coherent laser array beam in a turbulent atmosphere. The properties of an off-axis GSM beam and a partially coherent laser array beam in a turbulent atmosphere are closely related with the beam parameters and the structure constant of the turbulent atmosphere.     

Analytical formula for a decentered elliptical Gaussian beam propagating in a turbulent atmosphere

Analytical formulas for the average intensity and decentered parameter of a decentered elliptical Gaussian beam (DEGB) propagating in a turbulent atmosphere are derived in a tensor form. The propagation properties of a DEGB in a turbulent atmosphere are investigated in detail, and found to be different from that in free space. Furthermore, as an application example, we investigate the propagation of a decentered elliptical flat-topped beam (DEFB) by expressing its electric field as a finite sum of DEGBs in a turbulent atmosphere. The properties of a DEGB or a DEFB in a turbulent atmosphere are closely related with the beam’s parameters and the structure constant of the turbulent atmosphere.     

Polarization properties of two Gaussian Schell-model beams in the turbulent atmosphere

General expressions are derived for the spectral degree of polarization of a beam generated by the superposition of two Gaussian Schell-model (GSM) beams propagating in a turbulent atmosphere by adopting the beam coherence-polarization matrix and Young's interference theory. We analyzed the distance of two beams, atmospheric turbulence intensity, and the location of the imaging plane affect the degree of polarization by numerical calculation. In particular, when the correlation coefficients of x and y components of the electric field are the same (i.e. δ_xx = δ_yy), the degree of polarization will obtain the same value.