Experimental analysis of a laser beam propagating in angular turbulence

Abstract

In this work, a Gaussian laser beam is propagated through a thermally turbulent region before passing through a point diffraction interferometer to produce a circular interferogram. This was done to ascertain how turbulent windstreams of various wind speeds and temperatures affect a laser beam when directed at different angles to the beam axis. The interferometric results portray a clear dependence on the angle of application. That is, deviations away from 90° result in increased wavefront fluctuations. The refractive index structure constant, Rytov variance, and Fried’s parameter were computed to quantify each turbulent model. The attributed strength regimes of these atmospheric parameters were in varying degrees of agreement with the interferometric data. These contradictions and resulting conclusions were discussed in full.

Wide-aperture multichannel Shack-Hartmann sensor for multispectral wavefront measurements

“…As is known, the low efficiency of systems for the wireless transmission of energy and information using optical-range radiation is due to light beam diffraction, radiation scattering by atmospheric aerosol [23], and the influence of atmospheric turbulence [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. When a laser beam passes through the turbulent atmosphere of the Earth, the wavefront becomes distorted, which limits the operational range of such systems [37].…”

Atmospheric Turbulence with Kolmogorov Spectra: Software Simulation, Real-Time Reconstruction and Compensation by Means of Adaptive Optical System with Bimorph and Stacked-Actuator Deformable Mirrors

“…As is known, the low efficiency of systems for the wireless transmission of energy and information using optical-range radiation is due to light beam diffraction, radiation scattering by atmospheric aerosol [22], and the influence of atmospheric turbulence [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. When a laser beam passes through the turbulent atmosphere of the Earth, the wavefront becomes distorted, which limits the operational range of such systems [36].…”