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.     

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

The propagation properties of flattened Gaussian beam with a misaligned circular aperture in turbulent atmosphere have been studied by using the extended Huygens-Fresnel formula. From the study and numerical calculation, the effects of aperture parameters on the propagation properties of flattened Gaussian beams in turbulent atmosphere have been illuminated. The results show that angle misalignments and lateral displacements of aperture create unsymmetrical average intensity distribution at any cross section. The intensity distributions are much more sensitive to the lateral displacement than to the angle misalignments. And the propagation properties of different flattened Gaussian beams in turbulent atmosphere are also compared.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Propagation characteristics of higher-order annular Gaussian beams in atmospheric turbulence

The propagation characteristics of higher-order annular Gaussian (HOAG) beams in turbulence are investigated. From a HOAG source plane excitation, the average intensity of the receiver plane is developed analytically. This formulation is verified against the previously derived HOAG beam solution in free space. The graphical outputs indicate that, upon traveling in turbulent atmosphere, the HOAG beam will undergo different stages of evolution. At intermediate propagation distances, it will attempt to concentrate the energy near the origin. In this process, the appearance of the single higher-order primary beam will be encountered. Eventually HOAG originated beam will become a pure Gaussian beam after propagating an excessive distance in the turbulent medium.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Effects of the frequency chirp on the fields of a chirped Gaussian pulse passing through a hard-edged aperture

Based on the Huygens-Fresnel diffraction integral and Fourier transform, propagation expression of a chirped Gaussian pulse passing through a hard-edged aperture is derived. Intensity distributions of the pulse with different frequency chirp in the near-field and far-field are analyzed in detail by numerical calculations. In the near-field, amplitudes of the intensity peaks generated by the modulation of the hard-edged aperture decrease with increasing the frequency chirp, which results in the improving of the beam uniformity. A physical explanation for the smoothing effect brought by increasing the frequency chirp is given. The smoothing effect is achieved not only in the pulse with Gaussian transverse profile but also in the pulse with Hermite-Gaussian transverse profile when the frequency chirp increases.     

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.     

Propagation properties of anomalous hollow beams in a turbulent atmosphere

Propagation of circular and elliptical anomalous hollow beams in a turbulent atmosphere is investigated in detail. Based on the extended Huygens–Fresnel integral, analytical formulae for the average irradiance of circular and elliptical anomalous hollow beams propagating in a turbulent atmosphere are derived. The irradiance and spreading properties of circular and elliptical anomalous hollow beams in a turbulent atmosphere and in free space are studied numerically. It is found that circular and elliptical anomalous hollow beams at short propagation distance in turbulent atmosphere have similar propagation properties to those of free space, while at long propagation distance, circular and elliptical anomalous hollow beams eventually become circular Gaussian beams in a turbulent atmosphere, which is much different from their propagation properties in free space. The conversion from an anomalous hollow beam to a circular Gaussian beam becomes quicker and the beam spot spreads more rapidly for a larger structure constant, a shorter wavelength and a smaller waist size of the initial beam.     

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 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.     

Design of Super-resolution Filters with a Gaussian Beam in Optical Data Storage Systems

Super-resolution filters based on a Gaussian beam are proposed to reduce the focusing spot in optical data storage systems. Both of amplitude filters and pure-phase filters are designed respectively to gain the desired intensity distributions. Their performances are analysed and compared with those based on plane wave in detail. The energy utilizations are presented. The simulation results show that our designed super-resolution filters are favourable for use in optical data storage systems in terms of performance and energy utilization.     

Propagation of cosh-Gaussian beams diffracted by a circular aperture in turbulent atmosphere

An analytical formula for the average intensity of cosh-Gaussian (ChG) beams diffracted by an aperture in turbulent atmosphere is derived and some limiting cases are discussed. By using the average intensity formula, some numerical simulation comparisons are made and some special cases are studied, especially the influences of the ChG beam parameter (Ω₀), the propagation distance, the aperture and its size on the average normalized intensity distribution. It is determined that the evolution properties of the average normalized intensity profile in turbulent atmosphere with aperture are different not only from those of free space with aperture but also from those in turbulent atmosphere without aperture. PACS 42.68.Bz; 42.79.Ag; 42.25.Fx     

The general integral expressions for on-axis nonparaxial vectorial spherical waves diffracted at a circular aperture

Based on the vectorial Rayleigh-Sommerfeld integrals, the general propagation integral expressions for on-axis nonparaxial vectorial spherical wave diffracted at a circular aperture are derived. The results are strict integral formulae for the light field on the axis, valid for either strong or weak focusing, both far and near zones, and for the systems in which the size of the aperture is comparable to or smaller than the wavelength. Thus, it has the advantage for general application. For convergent spherical waves, the numerical calculation results are compared with those obtained by using the integral formulae of scalar paraxial approximation and scalar nonparaxial approximation, confirming the consistence in the situation of scalar approximation.     

Propagation of four-petal Gaussian beams in strongly nonlocal nonlinear media

The propagation of four-petal Gaussian beams in strongly nonlocal nonlinear media has been studied. The analytical solution and the analytical second-order moment beam width are obtained. For the off-waist incident and the waist incident cases, the intensity pattern evolves periodically during propagation in strongly nonlocal nonlinear media. Under the off-waist incident condition, the second-order moment beam width varies periodically during propagation, whatever the input power is. But under the waist incident condition, there exists a critical power. When the input power equals the critical power, the second-order moment beam width remains invariant, otherwise the second-order moment beam width varies periodically. Numerical simulations based on the nonlocal nonlinear Schrödinger equation are carried out for comparison with the theoretical predictions. The results show that the numerical simulations are in good agreement with the analytical results in the case of strong nonlocality.     

Flat-topped spectrum obtained from partially coherent hollow Gaussian Schell-model beams passing through a slit

The anomalous spectral behaviors of partially coherent polychromatic hollow Gaussian Schell-model beams (HGSMBs) diffracted by a slit are investigated. Besides spectral switches, asymmetrical dual-peak spectral split and multi-peak spectral split are observed. In the vicinity of the positions where spectral switches occur, flat-topped spectrum can be obtained, the bandwidth of which is adjustable by changing the transverse coherence width and the observation position. The flat-topped spectrum has potential application for creating probe beams in optical metrology systems and generating broadband optical sources in fiber optic sensor interface systems.     

Topological charge inversion in polynomial astigmatic Gaussian beams

The evolution of the global topological charge in a general polynomial astigmatic Gaussian beam is investigated. The leading order terms of the polynomial prefactor determines the global topological charge and can be expressed as a product of first order polynomials, each representing an optical vortex function. We show that the global topological charge is bounded by the order of the polynomial and change during propagation in steps of 2 every time one of the optical vortices undergo topological charge inversion. We investigate the locations of the flip planes where charge inversions occur and provide expressions for a number of special cases. Numerical results are provided for an example of such a polynomial astigmatic Gaussian beam.