Measurements of intensity scintillations and probability density functions of retroreflected broadband 980-nm laser light in atmospheric turbulence

Abstract

Intensity scintillation variances and intensity probability density functions (PDFs) were experimentally measured for broadband (2 nm), 980-nm laser light reflected by two or more corner cube retroreflectors as a function of retroreflector lateral spacing over a short (75 m) atmospheric optical path. The PDFs transitioned from broad double-peaked beta-shaped densities to lognormal as the retroreflector spacing was increased to exceed the optical field's lateral coherence length. Specific spacing for a given average atmospheric structural C n 2 eliminated interference between the light beams returned by the retroreflectors.