Propagation properties of apertured laser beams with amplitude modulations and phase fluctuations through atmospheric turbulence

Abstract

The propagation properties of apertured laser beams with amplitude modulations (AMs) and phase fluctuations (PFs) through atmospheric turbulence are studied in detail both analytically and numerically. The analytical expressions for the average intensity, power in the bucket (PIB) and Strehl ratio (SR) of apertured laser beams with AMs and PFs propagating through atmospheric turbulence are derived. It is found that the worse the phase fluctuation and the higher the amplitude modulation are, the less laser beams are affected by turbulence. Furthermore, apertured Gaussian beams are more sensitive to turbulence than apertured laser beams with AMs and PFs. The average intensity of apertured laser beams with AMs and PFs may be even larger than that of apertured Gaussian beams due to turbulence. In particular, the influence of turbulence on the average maximum intensity of apertured laser beams with PFs and AMs may become serious if an unsuitable truncated parameter is chosen, which should be avoided in practice.