Propagation of partially coherent Bessel–Gaussian beams carrying optical vortices in non-Kolmogorov turbulence

• Propagation of Bessel–Gaussian beams with optical vortices is studied.
• Vortex of the beams are less affected by turbulence with larger topological charge.
• Characteristic of vortex in the irradiance distribution has lost during propagation.
• Propagation of the beams is closely related to beam parameters and the turbulence.

The analytical formulae for the average intensity of the propagation of partially coherent Bessel–Gaussian beams (BGBs) with optical vortices in non-Kolmogorov turbulence have been derived based on using a coherence superposition approximation of decentered Gaussian beams and the extended Huygens–Fresnel principle. The influences of optical vortices, partially coherence and the non-Kolmogorov turbulence on irradiance distributions are investigated by numerical examples. Numerical results reveal that the vortex characteristics of the partially coherent BGBs are less affected by the turbulence with larger topological charge. It is shown that the characteristic of the existence of vortex in the irradiance distribution has been lost and the doughnut beam spot becomes a circularly Gaussian beam spot during propagation. The propagation of the beam is different from that in the case of Kolmogorov turbulence and the propagation properties of partially coherent BGBs in non-Kolmogorov turbulence are closely related to the beam parameters and the turbulence parameters. The spreading effects due to diffraction and coherence of initial beams can be neglected after long distance propagation.