Propagation properties of radial partially coherent flat-topped array beams in a turbulent atmosphere

With the help of the tensor method, the analytical expression for the cross-spectral density of the radial partially coherent flat-topped array (RPCFTA) beams propagating in a turbulent atmosphere is derived, where the correlated superposition and uncorrelated superposition are considered. The average intensity, the spatial coherence properties and power in bucket (PIB) of these kinds of beams are investigated in detail. It is shown by numerical results and analysis that the average intensity and the spatial coherence of the correlated or uncorrelated RPCFTA beams will change on propagation and this change is dependent upon the correlation of the source's beamlets and atmospheric turbulence. In addition, the comparisons of the average intensity and the spatial coherence between the correlated and the uncorrelated RPCFTA beams propagating both in turbulent atmosphere and in free space are also given, and some interesting results are obtained. The laser power of focus ability of the single PCFT beam is worse than that of the correlated RPCFTA beam and but better than that of the uncorrelated RPCFTA beam when propagation distance in turbulent atmosphere is far-field plane.