Chinese Optics Letters, Volume. 6, Issue 9, 625(2008)
Influence of turbulent atmosphere on the far-field coherent combined beam quality
Propagation of coherent combined laser beams in turbulent atmosphere is numerically studied based on the extended Huygens-Fresnel principle. By choosing beam propagation factor (BPF) and beam quality factor (BQ) to characterize the far-field irradiance distribution properties, the influence of turbulence on far-field coherent combined beam quality is studied in detail. The investigation reveals that with the coherence length decreasing, the irradiance distribution pattern evolves from typical non-Gaussian shape with multiple side-lobes into Gaussian shape which is seen in the incoherent combining case. In weak turbulent atmosphere, the far-field beam quality suffers less when the laser array gets more compact and operates at a longer wavelength. In strong turbulent atmosphere, the far-field beam quality degrades into the incoherent combining case without any relationship with the fill factor and laser wavelength.
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Pu Zhou, Zejin Liu, Xiaojun Xu, Xiaolin Wang, Xiao Li, Zilun Chen, "Influence of turbulent atmosphere on the far-field coherent combined beam quality," Chin. Opt. Lett. 6, 625 (2008)
Received: Apr. 14, 2008
Accepted: --
Published Online: Sep. 11, 2008
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