Polarization characteristics of coherent partially Airy beams propagating in atmospheric turbulence

Abstract

The degree of polarization of partially coherent Airy beams propagating through atmospheric turbulence is studied in this paper. Polarization fidelity of the beams is used to judge the propagation effect. It is shown that the degree of polarization of partially coherent Airy beams propagating through atmospheric turbulence tends to its initial value after it has propagated over a sufficient distance, and in free space the degree of polarization retains a certain value. The polarization distribution alone the symmetry axis is an Airy function if the propagation distance is not so long and evolves into a Gaussian-like profile when propagating at sufficient long distance in atmospheric turbulence. The polarization fidelity of the beams with larger waist width ω0 and larger coherence length σ0 is better. There is an exponential truncation factor which badly degrades the polarization fidelity. The results obtained in this paper are very useful for communication of Airy beams.