Active Laser Radar Systems With Stochastic Electromagnetic Beams in Turbulent Atmosphere

Abstract

Propagation of stochastic electromagnetic beams through paraxial ABCD optical systems operating through turbulent atmosphere is investigated with the help of the ABCD matrices and the generalized Huygens-Fresnel integral. In particular, the analytic formula is derived for the cross-spectral density matrix of an electromagnetic Gaussian Schell-model (EGSM) beam. We applied our analysis for the ABCD system with a single lens located on the propagation path, representing, in a particular case, the unfolded double-pass propagation scenario of active laser radar. Through a number of numerical examples we investigated the effect of local turbulence strength and lens' parameters on spectral, coherence and polarization properties of the EGSM beam. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America