Scintillation index of astigmatic annular beams in a turbulent atmosphere

The scintillation properties of astigmatic annular beams in a weak turbulent atmosphere are investigated. Expression for the on-axis scintillation index of an astigmatic annular beam is derived. It is found that the scintillation index of an astigmatic annular beam can be smaller than that of a Gaussian beam, an elliptical Gaussian beam and a stigmatic annular beam in a weak turbulent atmosphere under certain conditions. The scintillation properties of astigmatic annular beams are closely controlled by its beam parameters.     

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.     

Twist phase-induced reduction in scintillation of a partially coherent beam in turbulent atmosphere

The scintillation index of a Gaussian Schell-model beam with twist phase (i.e., twisted GSM beam) in weak turbulent atmosphere is formulated with the help of a tensor method. Variations of the scintillation index of a twisted GSM beam on propagation in turbulent atmosphere are studied in detail. It is interesting to find that the scintillation index of a twisted GSM beam can be smaller than that without twist phase in weak turbulent atmosphere. Thus, modulation of the twist phase of a partially coherent beam provides a new way to reduce turbulence-induced scintillation.     

Effect of spatial coherence on the scintillation properties of a dark hollow beam in turbulent atmosphere

With the help of a tensor method, we derive an explicit expression for the on-axis scintillation index of a circular partially coherent dark hollow (DH) beam in weakly turbulent atmosphere. The derived formula can be applied to study the scintillation properties of a partially coherent Gaussian beam and a partially coherent flat-topped (FT) beam. The effect of spatial coherence on the scintillation properties of DH beam, FT beam and Gaussian beam is studied numerically and comparatively. Our results show that the advantage of a DH beam over a FT beam and a Gaussian beam for reducing turbulence-induced scintillation increases particularly at long propagation distances with the decrease of spatial coherence or the increase of the atmospheric turbulence, which will be useful for long-distance free-space optical communications.     

Focusing properties of a general-type beam in turbulent atmosphere

Based on the generalized Huygens–Fresnel integral, analytical propagation formulas for a general-type beam propagating through aligned or misaligned ABCD optical systems in turbulent atmosphere are derived. The derived formulas provide a convenient way for studying the focusing properties of a variety of laser beams, such as Gaussian, cos-Gaussian, cosh-Gaussian, sine-Gaussian, sinh-Gaussian, flat-topped, Hermite-cosh-Gaussian, Hermite-sine-Gaussian, higher-order annular Gaussian, Hermite-sinh-Gaussian and Hermite-cos-Gaussian beams in turbulent atmosphere. As an application example, the focused intensities of cos-Gaussian, Hermite-sine-Gaussian and flat-topped beams in turbulent atmosphere are studied numerically. Focal shift of a flat-topped beam in turbulent atmosphere is investigated. Effect of the misalignment of the thin lens on the focusing properties of a cos-Gaussian beam is also explored. Our results will be useful for the applications of the general-type beam in LIDAR systems and remote sensing operating in turbulent atmosphere, where optical elements such as aligned or misaligned thin lens are commonly encountered.     

Annular beam scintillations in non-Kolmogorov weak turbulence

In a weakly turbulent atmosphere governed by the non-Kolmogorov spectrum, the on-axis scintillation index is formulated and evaluated when the incidence is an annular Gaussian type. When the power law of the non-Kolmogorov spectrum is varied, the scintillation index first increases, and reaches a peak value, then starts to decrease, and eventually approaches zero. The general trend is that when turbulence has a non-Kolmogorov spectrum with power law larger than the Kolmogorov power law, the scintillation index values become smaller. For all power laws, collimated annular Gaussian beams exhibit smaller scintillations when compared to pure Gaussian beams of the same size. Intensity fluctuations at a fixed propagation distance diminish for the non-Kolmogorov spectrum with a very large power law, irrespective of the focal length and the thickness of optical annular Gaussian sources.     

Intensity correlations of general type beam in weakly turbulent atmosphere

In weakly turbulent atmosphere, intensity correlations at the receiver plane are formulated for a general type optical beam. Evaluating our formula at the appropriate source parameters versus the diagonal distance, intensity correlations for cos Gaussian, cosh Gaussian, annular and flat-topped Gaussian beams are obtained. As compared to Gaussian beam, intensity correlations are found smaller for cos Gaussian and larger for cosh Gaussian beams. Intensity correlations of cos Gaussian, cosh Gaussian and flat-topped Gaussian beams become larger at large source sizes. Thicker annular beams and flatter flat-topped Gaussian beams show larger intensity correlations. Without generalizing, intensity correlations tend to increase when the link length and the structure constant decrease and the wavelength increases. Our results show that the intensity correlations are not only built up using random medium effects, but also using the diffraction pattern formed at the receiver plane for the specific incidence investigated. As a check point, for all source types and medium parameters, our evaluations indicate that intensity correlations approach zero at sufficiently large diagonal distances.     

M 2-factors of a non-circular partially coherent flat-topped beam

Based on the extended Huygens-Fresnel integral and the second-order moments of the Wigner distribution function, analytical formulae for the propagation factors (known as M ²-factors) of a non-circular (i.e., rectangular or elliptical) partially coherent flat-topped beam in turbulent atmosphere are derived. The properties of the M ²-factors of a non-circular partially coherent flat-topped beam in turbulent atmosphere and in free space are studied numerically and comparatively. It is found that the evolution properties of the M ²-factors are mainly determined by the parameters of the beam and the turbulent atmosphere. The relative M ²-factors of a non-circular partially coherent flat-topped beam can be smaller than a circular partially coherent flat-topped beam and a Gaussian Schell-model beam, particularly at long propagation ranges in turbulent atmosphere. Our results will be useful in long-distance free-space optical communications.     

Generalized tensor ABCD law for an elliptical Gaussian beam passing through an astigmatic optical system in turbulent atmosphere

The propagation of an elliptical Gaussian beam (EGB) through an astigmatic ABCD optical system in a turbulent atmosphere is investigated. An analytical formula for the average intensity of an EGB and a generalized tensor ABCD law for the generalized complex curvature tensor are derived. As an application example, we derived an analytical formula for the average intensity of an elliptical flat-topped beam propagating through an astigmatic ABCD optical system in a turbulent atmosphere. As a numerical example, the focusing properties of an EGB focused by a thin lens in a turbulent atmosphere are studied. It is found that the focused beam at the focal plane becomes a circular Gaussian beam when the atmospheric turbulence is strong enough, and the beam width of the circular Gaussian beam is determined by atmospheric turbulence strength, focal length of the thin lens, and wavelength of the initial beam but is independent of the initial beam widths (i.e., initial intensity distribution).     

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.     

Effects of extremely strong turbulent medium on scintillations of partially coherent annular and flat-topped Gaussian beams

Scintillation index of partially coherent annular and partially coherent flat-topped Gaussian beams propagating in horizontal links is found at the receiver origin when these beams propagate in extremely strong atmospheric turbulence. Scintillation index of coherent versions of such beams attain unity saturation value whereas the decrease in the degree of source coherence results in the decrease of the scintillations. At a fixed degree of partial coherence, thin ring sized annular beams possess smaller scintillations than thick ones. For partially coherent flat-topped Gaussian beams, higher flatness yields smaller intensity fluctuations. In extremely strong turbulence, partially coherent annular and partially coherent flat-topped Gaussian beams have smaller scintillations when compared to partially coherent single Gaussian beam scintillations.     

漂移对聚焦高斯光束闪烁影响的数值模拟

 采用非自适应坐标变换对聚焦高斯光束在湍流大气中的传输进行了数值模拟，结果显示轴闪烁指数并没有出现如Rytov理论所预言的随初始光束半径的增大而明显减小的现象，其原因在于Rytov近似理论未考虑大尺度湍涡产生的漂移效应对闪烁的贡献。对比数值模拟结果与漂移理论结果以及相关实验结果，三者相吻合,表明未考虑漂移效应的Rytov近似理论不能完全准确地描述聚焦光束的闪烁特征，在研究聚焦光束的闪烁时，应当考虑漂移的影响。     

Scintillation of a laser beam propagation through non-Kolmogorov strong turbulence

Atmospheric turbulence causes strong irradiance fluctuations of propagating optical wave under the severe weather conditions in long-distance free space optical communication. In this paper, the scintillation index for a Gaussian beam wave propagation through non-Kolmogorov turbulent atmosphere is derived in strong fluctuation regime, using non-Kolmogorov spectrum with a generalized power law exponent and the extended Rytov theory with a modified spatial filter function. The analytic expressions are obtained and then used to analyze the effect of power law, refractive-index structure parameter, propagation distance, phase radius of curvature, beam width and wavelength on scintillation index of Gaussian beam under the strong atmospheric turbulence. It shows that, with the increasing of structure parameter or propagation distance, scintillation index increases sharply up to the peak point and then decreases gradually toward unity at rates depending on power law. And there exist optimal value of radius of curvature and beam width for minimizing the value of scintillation index and long wavelength for mitigating the effect of non-Kolmogorov strong turbulence on link performance.     

Scintillation calculations for partially coherent general beams via extended Huygens–Fresnel integral and self-designed Matlab function

We present scintillation calculations in weak atmospheric turbulence for partially coherent general beams based on the extended Huygens–Fresnel integral and a Matlab function designed to handle expressions both of the average intensity and the average squared intensity. This way, the integrations are performed in a semi-analytic manner by the associated Matlab function, and this avoids lengthy, time-consuming and error prone hand derivations. The results are obtained for the partially coherent fundamental and higher-order sinusoidal and annular Gaussian beams. By plotting the scintillation index against the propagation distance and source size, we illustrate the on-axis scintillation behaviors of these beams. Accordingly, it is found that within specific source and parameter ranges, partially coherent fundamental, higher-order sinusoidal and annular Gaussian beams are capable of offering less scintillations, in comparison to the fundamental Gaussian beam.     

一维线阵离轴高斯光束通过湍流大气的传输特性

研究了一维(1D)线阵离轴高斯光束通过湍流大气的传输特性，推导出了其光强传输方程. 研究表明，1D线阵离轴高斯光束通过湍流大气传输经历了三个阶段，即在近场其光强分布为类似于入射光的锯齿状分布，随着传输距离的增加逐渐变为平顶分布，最后在远场成为类高斯分布. 湍流的增强会使光束传输经历三阶段的进程加快. 并且，湍流使得不同子光束数的1D线阵离轴高斯光束的归一化光强分布相接近. 此外，子光束数越多的1D线阵离轴高斯光束受到湍流的影响越小；1D线阵离轴高斯光束较高斯光束受到湍流的影响要小. 关键词： 一维(1D)线阵离轴高斯光束 湍流大气 传输特性     

Scintillation index of a stochastic electromagnetic beam propagating in random media

We study the behavior of the scintillation index (the normalized variance of fluctuating intensity) of a wide-sense statistically stationary, quasi-monochromatic, electromagnetic beam propagating in a homogeneous isotropic medium. In particular, we show that in the case when the beam is treated electromagnetically apart from the correlation properties of the medium in which the beam travels not only its degree of coherence but also its degree of polarization in the source plane can affect the values of the scintillation index along the propagation path. We find that, generally, beams generated by unpolarized sources have reduced level of scintillation, compared with beams generated by fully polarized sources, provided they have the same intensity distribution and the same state of coherence in the source plane. An example illustrating the theory is considered which examines how the scintillation index of an electromagnetic Gaussian Schell-model beam propagates in the turbulent atmosphere. These results may find applications in optical communications through random media and in remote sensing.     

INNER AND OUTER SCALE EFFECTS ON SCINTILLATION INDEX FOR AN INFRARED LASER PROPAGATING ON EARTH-SPACE PATHS

The effects of the inner-and outer-scale of turbulent atmosphere on the scintillation index for an infrared laser beam propagating through atmospheric turbulence are discussed under the assumption that small-scale irradiance fluctuation is modulated by large-scale irradiance fluctuation on Earth-space paths. A model about the scintillation index with the inner-and outer-scale is developed. A numerical analysis is done by using this model. It is shown that the effect of the inner scale on scintillation index is larger than the outer scale effect for the lesser wavelength wave at visible and infrared band. From moderate to saturation regime, the inner scale effect becomes gradually small; however, the outer scale effect becomes gradually obvious. Under moderate to strong regime, therefore, the effects of the inner-and outer-scale on scintillation index must be considered for theoretical prediction scintillation of an infrared laser beam propagating through turbulent atmosphere on Earth-space paths.     

Optimized multiemitter beams for free-space optical communications through turbulent atmosphere

Using laser beams with less than perfect spatial coherence is an effective way of reducing scintillations in free-space optical communication links. We report a proof-of-principle experiment that quantifies this concept for a particular type of a partially coherent beam. In our scaled model of a free-space optical communication link, the beam is composed of several partially overlapping fundamental Gaussian beams that are mutually incoherent. The turbulent atmosphere is simulated by a random phase screen imprinted with Kolmogorov turbulence. Our experiments show that for both weak-to-intermediate and strong turbulence an optimum separation between the constituent beams exists such that the scintillation index of the optical signal at the detector is minimized. At the minimum, the scintillation reduction factor compared with the case of a single Gaussian beam is substantial, and it is found to grow with the number of constituent beams. For weak-to-intermediate turbulence, our experimental results are in reasonable agreement with calculations based on the Rytov approximation.     

Intensity fluctuations in J-Bessel–Gaussian beams of all orders propagating in turbulent atmosphere

The scintillation index of a J _n -Bessel–Gaussian beam of any order propagating in turbulent atmosphere is derived and numerically evaluated at transverse cross-sections with the aid of a specially designed triple integral routine. The graphical outputs indicate that, just like the previously investigated J ₀-Bessel–Gaussian beam, higher-order members of the family also offer favorable scintillation characteristics at large source sizes. This advantage is maintained against rising beam orders. Viewed along the propagation axis, beams with lower orders and smaller widths exhibit smaller values of the scintillation index at shorter propagation distances and large values at longer propagation distances. Further, it is shown that the scintillation index of the J _n -Bessel–Gaussian beams (n>0) is larger than that of the fundamental Gaussian and the J ₀-Bessel–Gaussian beams only near the on-axis points, while remaining smaller towards the edges of the beam.     

The on-axis average intensity for Gaussian beam excitation limited by an annular aperture in turbulent atmosphere

Starting with a Gaussian beam excitation limited by an annular aperture, the on-axis average intensity is presented in turbulent atmosphere. The on-axis average intensity profile is evaluated by altering the outer and inner radius of an annular aperture, the propagation distance and wavelength. The results show that the outer radius of an annular aperture within a certain size impacts the on-axis intensity distributions. When the propagation distance or the outer radius of an annular aperture is large enough, the on-axis average intensity distributions is not affected by the size of the annular aperture. By calculation and analyses, the variation of the inner radius of the annular aperture and the wavelength of the Gaussian beam that impact on the axial average intensity distributions is also discussed.