Multimode laser beam scintillations in strong atmospheric turbulence

Abstract

Multimode laser beam scintillation index is formulated at the origin of the receiver plane (on-axis) in strong atmospheric turbulence using the modified Rytov method. Variations of the scintillation index against the turbulence strength and the size of the multimode laser beam are reported for various multimode laser beam contents. It is found that when the multimode content is increased, i.e. when the laser beam contains more modes, and when the multimode content is composed of modes with larger mode numbers, the scintillations tend to reduce in strong atmospheric turbulence. Thus, to achieve smaller intensity fluctuations in atmospheric wireless optics communication systems having long link lengths or operating in strong turbulence, use of multimode laser beams can be recommended.