Spreading of partially coherent flattened Gaussian beams propagating through turbulent media

Abstract

Based on the extended Huygens–Fresnel principle, the spreading of partially coherent flattened Gaussian beams propagating through turbulent media is studied by using the incoherent superposition of higher-order Hermite–Gaussian beams. The mean-squared width of partially coherent flattened Gaussian beams in turbulence is derived. It is shown that the spreading of partially coherent flattened Gaussian beams increases with increasing turbulent parameter and beam order N. However, the difference between the relative spreading of partially coherent flattened Gaussian beams in turbulent media and in free space reduces as N increases. Therefore, partially coherent flattened Gaussian beams with high N are less sensitive to the effects of turbulence than those with lower N.