The effective beam width of a partially coherent rectangular mul-ti-Gaussian Schell-model vortex beam propagating in a turbulent plasma

Abstract

Based on the derived analytical formulae for the optical intensity and effective beam width of a partially coherent rectangular multi-Gaussian Schell-model (RMGSM) vortex beam, we analyzed the evolution of the effective beam width of a partially coherent RMGSM vortex beam propagating in an anisotropic turbulent plasma using numerical examples. The numerical results demonstrated that the effective beam widths in the x and y directions were similar. In studies on the influences of the source parameters, one can see that an RMGSM vortex beam with a larger topological charge  and beam waist  or a smaller correlation coefficient σ evolves into a beam with a larger effective beam width. However, the influence of beam order was not evident. In addition, numerical examples proved that the effective beam width increases with increasing propagation distance and refractive index fluctuation variance  or decreasing anisotropy parameter , outer scale , and  inner scale . This study's results will be beneficial for applications in free-space optical communications.