Analysis of flat-topped Gaussian vortex beam scintillation properties in atmospheric turbulence

Abstract

We analyze the scintillation properties of a flat-topped Gaussian vortex beam propagating in a weakly turbulent atmosphere. We utilize a random phase screen model to perform this analysis. We evaluate the scintillation against the changes of topological charge, beam order, operating wavelength, receiver aperture side length, and source size parameters. The results show that using a flat-topped Gaussian vortex beam with a high topological charge causes a reduction in scintillation. Increasing the receiver aperture side length reduces scintillation level. As the source size increases, scintillation decreases. Our results also indicate that a flat-topped Gaussian vortex beam with high topological charges has less scintillation than the fundamental Gaussian beam. We believe that our findings will be useful in improving the performance of next-generation optical communication links and networks.