Spreading of apertured partially coherent beams in turbulent media

The closed-form expression for the mean-squared width of apertured partially coherent beams propagating through turbulent media is derived by using the integral transform technique. The influence of turbulence on the spreading of apertured partially coherent beams is studied quantitatively by examining the relative mean-squared width, which is defined as the ratio of the mean-squared width of an apertured partially coherent beam in turbulence to the mean-squared width of the same beam in free space. On the other hand, the range of turbulence-independent propagation, also a reasonable measure of the resistance of a beam to turbulence, is obtained by examining the mean-squared width. It is shown that the spreading of apertured partially coherent beams is less affected by turbulence with smaller truncation parameter δ and coherence parameter α than with larger δ and α. In addition, the influence of turbulence on the spreading of apertured partially coherent beams increases first and then decreases due to increasing waist width w₀. The results obtained are explained physically.