Propagation of modified Bessel-Gaussian beams in turbulence

We investigate the propagation characteristics of modified Bessel-Gaussian beams traveling in a turbulent atmosphere. The source beam formulation comprises a Gaussian exponential and the summation of modified Bessel functions. Based on an extended Huygens-Fresnel principle, the receiver plane intensity is formulated and solved down to a double integral stage. Source beam illustrations show that modified Bessel-Gaussian beams, except the lowest order case, will have well-like shapes. Modified Bessel-Gaussian beams with summations will experience lobe slicing and will display more or less the same profile regardless of order content. After propagating in turbulent atmosphere, it is observed that a modified Bessel-Gaussian beam will transform into a Bessel-Gaussian beam. Furthermore it is seen that modified Bessel-Gaussian beams with different Bessel function combinations, but possessing nearly the same profile, will differentiate during propagation. Increasing turbulence strength is found to accelerate the beam transformation toward the eventual Gaussian shape. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.