Elegant Laguerre-Gaussian beam in a turbulent atmosphere

Paraxial propagation of an elegant Laguerre-Gaussian beam (ELGB) in a turbulent atmosphere is investigated in detail. Analytical formulae for the average intensity and effective beam size of an ELGB in a turbulent atmosphere are derived based on the extended Huygens-Fresnel integral. The average intensity and spreading properties of an ELGB in a turbulent atmosphere are studied numerically and compared with those of a standard Laguerre-Gaussian beam (SLGB). Our results indicate that the propagation properties of an ELGB in a turbulent atmosphere are much different from its properties in free space, and are closely related to its beam parameters and the structure constant of the atmospheric turbulence. The ELGB with higher mode orders is less affected by the turbulence. The SLGB spreads more rapidly than the ELGB in a turbulent atmosphere under the same conditions. Our results will be useful in long-distance free-space optical communications. ©2010 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.