Scintillation index of a multi-Gaussian Schell-model beam in turbulent atmosphere

Multi-Gaussian Schell-model (MGSM) beam was introduced recently [Sahin and Korotkova, Opt. Lett. 37 (2012) 2970; Korotkova et al., J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 29 (2012) 2159]. In this paper, an explicit expression for the scintillation index of a multi-Gaussian Schell-model (MGSM) beam in weakly or extremely strong turbulent atmosphere is derived with the help of a tensor method. Applying the derived formulae, the scintillation properties of a MGSM beam and a GSM beam in weakly or extremely strong turbulent atmosphere are studied numerically and comparatively. Our results show that a MGSM beam has advantage over a GSM beam for reducing turbulence-induced scintillation, which will be useful for long-distance free-space optical communications.