Propagation of cross beams through atmospheric turbulence

Abstract

Propagation properties of cross beam in turbulent medium are studied. A cross beam is constructed by the sum of two highly asymmetric Gaussian beams placed along transverse axes. It is known that such beams, when propagating in free space, will exhibit contrasting diffraction behaviours; they expand widely in one axis, while they are almost nondiffracting in the other axis within useful link lengths. This behaviour allows detecting the two components and a sum component if desired separately with a practical multiaperture receiver. Bearing in mind that this property can be exploited for a diversity scheme, our present work focuses on the propagation of such beams in turbulent atmosphere. To this end, starting with a source field expression of the cross beam, the second order mutual coherence function is formulated at the receiver plane. Intensity plots describing the dependence on the source and propagation parameters on the receiver plane are provided. The results tend to confirm the applicability of the concept provided the design parameters are appropriately chosen. For a decisive assessment, however, turbulence-induced beam wander must also be examined.