Effects of atmospheric turbulence on the polarization of apertured electromagnetic Gaussian Schell-model beams

Abstract

The effects of atmospheric turbulence on the polarization of apertured electromagnetic Gaussian Schell-model (EGSM) beams are studied. The closed-form expression for the degree of polarization of apertured EGSM beams propagating through atmospheric turbulence is derived. It is shown that on propagation over sufficient long distances the degree of polarization of apertured EGSM beams with different values of beam truncation parameter and beam coherence parameter tends to the same value at the source plane and becomes uniform due to turbulence, which is quite different from the behavior in free space. The smaller the beam truncation parameter is, the less the degree of polarization is affected by turbulence. In particular, the degree of polarization of apertured EGSM beams is less sensitive to the effects of turbulence than that of unapertured EGSM beams.