The performance of heterodyne detection system for partially coherent beams in turbulent atmosphere

The performance of heterodyne system is discussed for partially coherent beams in turbulent atmosphere by introducing turbulence spectrum of refractive-index fluctuations. Several analytic formulae for the heterodyne detection system using the partially coherent Gaussian Schell-model beam are presented. Based on Tatarskii spectrum model, some numerical results are given for the variation in the heterodyne efficiency with the misalignment angle, detector diameter, turbulence conditions, and parameters of the overlapping beams. According to the numerical results, we find that the turbulent atmosphere degrades the heterodyne efficiency significantly, and the variation in heterodyne efficiency is even slower against the misalignment angle in turbulence. For the deterministic received signal and the detector, the performance of the heterodyne detection can be adjusted by controlling the local oscillator signal parameters.