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.     

Spectral shifts and spectral switches of elliptical Gaussian beam propagating through turbulent atmosphere

Based on the extended Huygens-Fresnel principle, the spectrum of elliptical Gaussian beam (EGB) propagating through turbulent atmosphere can be derived analytically by tensor method. It can avoid time-consuming numerical integral that was commonly used in the previous study of spectral changes. Analytical results show that the on-axis normalized spectrum S(ω) of EGB propagating through turbulent atmosphere is different from the original spectrum S₀(ω) and there exist spectral shifts and spectral switches for EGB propagating through turbulent atmosphere. Besides, spectral shifts and spectral switches of EGB are closely related with the structure constant of the turbulent atmosphere, the beam parameters and the coordinate of observation point. Compared with the Gaussian beam, there are two spectral switches for EGB propagating through turbulent atmosphere.     

Slant path average intensity of finite optical beam propagating in turbulent atmosphere

The average intensity of finite laser beam propagating through turbulent atmosphere is calculated from the extended Huygens Fresnel principle. Formulas are presented for the slant path average intensity from an arbitrarily truncated Gaussian beam. The new expressions are derived from the modified von Karman spectrum for refractive-index fluctuations, quadratic approximation of the structure function,and Gaussian approximation for the product of Gaussian function and Bessel function. It is shown that the form of average intensity is not a Gaussian function but a polynomial of the power of the binomial function, Gaussian function, and the incomplete gamma function. The results also show that the mean irradiance of a finite optical beam propagating in slant path turbulent atmosphere not only depends on the effective beam radius at the transmitting aperture plane, propagation distance, and long-term lateral coherence length of spherical wave, but also on the radius of emit aperture.     

Partially coherent aberrated beam propagating in a turbulent atmosphere

Based on the extended Huygens-Fresnel principle, the propagation formulate for partially coherent aberrated beam in a turbulent atmosphere has been derived. Then the propagation of such beams in the turbulent atmosphere has been studied in great detail. It is found that beams with spherical aberration spread more rapidly than those without spherical aberration. It is also found that the beam spreads more rapidly for a stronger turbulence or a source with lower coherence. In addition, some explanation to those results is also given.     

Scintillation index of elliptical Gaussian beam in turbulent atmosphere

A tensor method is used to formulate the on-axis scintillation index for an elliptical Gaussian beam (EGB; astigmatic Gaussian beam) propagating in a weak turbulent atmosphere. Variations of the on-axis scintillation of an EGB are studied. It is interesting to find that the scintillation index of an EGB can be smaller than that of a circular Gaussian beam in a weakly turbulent atmosphere under certain conditions and is closely related to the ratio of the beam waist size along the long axis to that along the short axis of the EGB, the wavelength, and the structure constant of the turbulent atmosphere.     

Saturation level of the intensity fluctuations of an optical beam in a turbulent atmosphere

It is shown that the saturation level of the variance of the intensity fluctuations of a coherent light beam propagating In the atmosphere depends to a considerable extent on the behavior of the high-frequency part of the fluctuation spectrum of the refractive index of the air.     

Light-beat measurement of phase fluctuations of a laser beam propagating through a turbulent atmosphere

Real-time processing of phase fluctuations of a laser beam has been considered in association with the phase of a beat signal of light. Two fine light beams, included in the expanded laser beam propagating through an artificially turbulent atmosphere, are shifted in frequency by two successive ultrasonic light modulators at slightly different frequencies, so that they can be photomixed to generate a beat signal whose phase is randomly modulated. The fluctuating phase difference of the two fine beams can be revealed in real-time from the phase of the beat signal. It is immediately processed by a conventional wave-height analyzer, from which a probability density and its variance are simply obtained. When the atmosphere is perturbed by the blower with a heater alone, the probability density takes the Gaussian form and the variance obeys approximately the 5/3-power law as the two beam separation is increased. When the turbulent atmosphere is further disturbed by some metallic mesh, the probability density does not always obey Gaussian statistics, but it depends greatly on the turbulent state of the atmosphere.     

湍流大气中聚焦平台光束焦移及光斑尺度

 通过理论分析和数值模拟,对聚焦平台光束大气传输的焦移问题进行了研究。聚焦平台光束在湍流大气中传输时,湍流将导致光束的束腰向发射点移动,且湍流越强移动的幅度越大;大气湍流强度相同时,聚焦平台光束发射口径越小,其束腰移动的幅度越大。另外,通过调节发射系统的焦距,使聚焦平台光束的束腰正好位于接收探测器处时,接收探测器上的激光功率密度并非最大,只有当发射系统的焦距等于激光的传输距离时,接收探测器上的激光功率密度才会最大。     

Moments of intensity distribution of super-Gauss beam in turbulent atmosphere

Moment of intensity distribution is one of the most important parameters in studying the propagation of a beam in turbulent atmosphere. With the help of Wigner transform and the expansion of mutual coherence function (MCF) of turbulence, a relation between the moment of intensity distribution and the moment of power spectrum of refractive index fluctuations is found. The study shows that the jth-order moment of beam intensity distribution is only affected by the moment of power spectrum of refractive index fluctuations which order is not larger than j. Meanwhile, the expressions for the moment of beam intensity distribution, in which order is not larger than the fourth order are given. As a special case, the moments of the super-Gaussian beam (SGB) in turbulence are studied. The evolution of the kurtosis parameters of SGB under different condition is investigated in detail.     

湍流大气中聚焦平台光束焦移及光斑尺度

通过理论分析和数值模拟,对聚焦平台光束大气传输的焦移问题进行了研究。聚焦平台光束在湍流大气中传输时,湍流将导致光束的束腰向发射点移动,且湍流越强移动的幅度越大;大气湍流强度相同时,聚焦平台光束发射口径越小,其束腰移动的幅度越大。另外,通过调节发射系统的焦距,使聚焦平台光束的束腰正好位于接收探测器处时,接收探测器上的激光功率密度并非最大,只有当发射系统的焦距等于激光的传输距离时,接收探测器上的激光功率密度才会最大。     

Wind velocity profile reconstruction from intensity fluctuations of a plane wave propagating in a turbulent atmosphere

Reconstruction of a wind profile based on the statistics of plane-wave intensity fluctuations in a turbulent atmosphere is considered. The algorithm for wind profile retrieval from the spatiotemporal spectrum of plane-wave weak intensity fluctuations is described, and the results of end-to-end computer experiments on wind profiling based on the developed algorithm are presented. It is shown that the reconstructing algorithm allows retrieval of a wind profile from turbulent plane-wave intensity fluctuations with acceptable accuracy.