Spatial quantum coherent modulation with perfect hybrid vector vortex beam based on atomic medium

The perfect hybrid vector vortex beam(PHVVB)with helical phase wavefront structure has aroused significant concern in recent years,as its beam waist does not expand with the topological charge(TC).In this work,we investigate the spatial quantum coherent modulation effect with PHVVB based on the atomic medium,and we observe the absorption characteristic of the PHVVB with different TCs under variant magnetic fields.We find that the transmission spectrum linewidth of PHVVB can be effectively maintained regardless of the TC.Still,the width of transmission peaks increases slightly as the beam size expands in hot atomic vapor.This distinctive quantum coherence phenomenon,demonstrated by the interaction of an atomic medium with a hybrid vector-structured beam,might be anticipated to open up new opportunities for quantum coherence modulation and accurate magnetic field measurement.

Terahertz shaping technology based on coherent beam combining

The generation of terahertz(THz) waves by focusing a femtosecond pulsed laser beam at a distance is able to overcome the strong absorption properties of air and has rapidly attracted the attention of industry. However, the poor directionality of the THz wave radiation generated by this method is not conducive to THz wave applications. By controlling the morphology of the ultrafast laser-excited plasma filament and its electron density distribution through coherent beam combining technology, we achieve direct THz beam shaping and are able to obtain THz wave radiation of Gaussian or arbitrary transverse distribution. The novel experimental approach proposed in this paper opens up the research field of direct THz wave shaping using plasma. Moreover, it innovates multi-parameter convergence algorithms and, by doing so, has the potential to find beam patterns with higher energy conversion efficiency and break the energy limit of THz waves emitted by lasers at high power.

Tightly focused properties of a partially coherent radially polarized power-exponent-phase vortex beam

A partially coherent beam called a radially polarized multi-Gaussian Schell-model power-exponent-phase vortex beam is introduced. Both the analytical formula of the beam propagating through the high-numerical-aperture objective lens based on the vectorial diffraction theory, and the cross-spectral density matrix of the beam in the focal region are derived. Then,the tight focusing characteristics of the partially coherent radially polarized power-exponent-phase vortex beam are studied numerically, and the intensity distribution, degree of polarization and coherence of the beams in the focusing region with different topological charge, power order, beam index and coherence width are analyzed in detail. The results show that the contour of the spot becomes clearer and smoother with the increase in the beam index, and the focal fields of different structures that include the flattened beam can be obtained by changing the coherence width. In addition, by changing the topological charge and power order, the intensity can gather to a point along the ring. These unique properties will have potential applications in particle capture and manipulation, especially in the manipulation of irregular particles.

Propagation of the off-axis superposition of partially coherent beams through atmospheric turbulence

The propagation properties of the off-axis superposition of partially coherent beams through atmospheric turbulence and their beam quality in terms of the mean-squared beam width w（z） and the power in the bucket （PIB） are studied in detail, where the effects of partial coherence, off-axis beam superposition and atmospheric turbulence are considered. The analytical expressions for the intensity, the beam width and the PIB are derived, and illustrative examples are given numerically. It is shown that the maximum intensity/max and the PIB decrease and w（z） increases as the refraction index structure constant Cn^2 increases. Therefore, the turbulence results in a degradation of the beam quality. However, the resulting partially coherent beam with a smaller value of spatial correlation parameter γ and larger values of separate distance Xd and beam number M is less affected by the turbulence than that with a larger value of y and smaller values of Xd and M. The main results obtained in this paper are explained physically.

Consistency of the directionality of partially coherent beams in turbulence expressed in terms of the angular spread and the far-field average intensity

Under the quadratic approximation of the Rytov＇s phase structure function, this paper derives the general closed-form expressions for the mean-squared width and the angular spread of partially coherent beams in turbulence. It finds that under a certain condition different types of partially coherent beams may have the same directionality as a fully coherent Gaussian beam in free space and also in atmospheric turbulence if the angular spread is chosen as the characteristic parameter of beam directionality. On the other hand, it shows that generally, the directionality of partially coherent beams expressed in terms of the angular spread is not consistent with that in terms of the normalized far-field average intensity distribution in free space, but the consistency can be achieved due to turbulence.

Propagation properties of partially coherent Hermite-Gaussian beams through non-Kolmogorov turbulence

The propagation properties of partially coherent Hermite-Gaussian beams through non-Kolmogorov atmospheric turbulence are studied. The effects of non-Kolmogorov turbulence and beam nonparaxiality on the average intensity evolution and the beam-width spreading are stressed. It is found that the evolution of the average intensity distribution and the beam-width spreading depends on the generalized exponent factor, namely, on the non-Kolmogorov turbulence strength for the paraxial case. For the non-paraxial case the effect of the turbulence is negiigibl% while the beam-width spreading becomes very large. The analytical results are illustrated numerically and interpreted physically.

Turbulence-induced changes in degree of polarization,degree of coherence and spectrum of partially coherent electromagnetic beams

Based on a recently formulated unified theory of coherence and polarization, a method is described to study turbulence-induced changes in the polarization, the coherence and the spectrum of partially coherent electromagnetic beams on propagation. The electromagnetic Gaussian Schell-model beam is taken as a typical example of partially coherent electromagnetic beams, and the closed-form expressions for the degree of polarization, the degree of coherence and the spectrum of electromagnetic Gaussian Schell-model beams propagating through atmospheric turbulence are derived in the quadratic approximation of Rytov＇s phase structure function. Some interesting results are obtained, which are illustrated by numerical examples and are explained in physics.

Coherence vortices of partially coherent beams in the far field

Based on the propagation law of cross-spectral density function, studied in this paper are the coherence vortices of partially coherent, quasi-monochromatic singular beams with Gaussian envelope and Schell-model correlator in the far field, where our main attention is paid to the evolution of far-field coherence vortices into intensity vortices of fully coherent beams. The results show that, although there are usually no zeros of intensity in partially coherent beams with Gaussian envelope and Schell-model correlator~ zeros of spectral degree of coherence exist. The coherence vortices of spectral degree of coherence depend on the relative coherence length, mode index and positions of pairs of points. If a point and mode index are kept fixed, the position of coherence vortices changes with the increase of the relative coherence length. For the low coherent case there is a circular phase dislocation. In the coherent limit coherence vortices become intensity vortices of fully coherent Laguerre-Gaussian beams.

Experimental investigation on partially coherent higher-order non-diffractive beams

We experimentally study the generation of a partially coherent non-diffractive beam by focusing a partially coherent vortex beam with an axieon. The investigation results show that when the partially coherent vortex beam is focused by the axicon, the beam is transferred into a partially coherent higher-order non-diffractive beam. In the non-diffractive zone, the transverse intensity distribution of the partially coherent higher-order non-diffractive beam is invariant during propagation. In addition, the range of the non-diffractive zone is related to the coherence of the partially coherent vortex beam. The poorer the coherence of the partially coherent vortex beam, the shorter the range of the non-diffractive zone.

Long-distance propagation of pseudo-partially coherent Gaussian Schell-model beams in atmospheric turbulence

Propagation properties of spatially pseudo-partially coherent Gaussian Schell-model beams through the atmo- spheric turbulence over a long-distance uplink path are studied by numerical simulation. A linear coordination trans- formation is introduced to overcome the window effect and the loss-of-resolution problem. The beam spreading, beam wandering, and intensity scintillation as functions of turbulence strength, source correlation length, and change fre- quency of random phase that models the partial coherence of the source are analyzed. It is found that the beam spreading and the intensity scintillation of the partially coherent beam are less affected by the turbulence than those of the coherent one, but it suffers from a more severe diffractive effect, and the change frequency of random phase has no evident influence on it. The beam wandering is insensitive to the variation of source correlation length, and decreases firstly then goes to a fixed value as the change frequency increases.

Quantum polarization fluctuations of partially coherent dark hollow beams in non-Kolmogorov turbulence atmosphere

Non-classical polarization properties of dark hollow beams propagating through non-Kolmogorov turbulence are studied. The analytic equation for the polarization degree of the quantization partially coherent dark hollow beams is obtained.It is found that the polarization fluctuations of the quantization partially coherent dark hollow beams are dependent on the turbulence factors and beam parameters with the detection photon numbers. Furthermore, an investigation of the changes in the on-axis propagation point and off-axis propagation point shows that the polarization degree of the quantization partially coherent dark hollow beams presents oscillation for a short propagation distance and gradually returns to zero for a sufficiently long distance.

Propagation of partially coherent beams carrying an edge dislocation through atmospheric turbulence along a slant path

This paper derives the explicit expressions for the average intensity, beam width and angular spread of Gaussian Schell-model （GSM） beams with edge dislocation propagating through atmospheric turbulence along a slant path. The propagation of GSM beams with edge dislocation through horizontal atmospheric turbulence can be treated as a special case through a slant one. The propagation properties of GSM beams with edge dislocation through slant atmospheric turbulence are studied, where the influence of edge dislocation parameters including the slope p and off-axis distance d on the spreading of GSM beams with edge dislocation in atmospheric turbulence is stressed. It shows that the spreading of the intensity profile of GSM beams with edge dislocation along a slant path is smaller than that along a horizontal path in the long-distance atmospheric propagation. The larger the slope ｜p｜ and the smaller the off-axis distance ｜d｜ are, the less the beam-width spreading and angular spread of GSM beams with edge dislocation are affected by turbulence. The CSM beams with edge dislocation is less affected by turbulence than that of GSM beams without edge dislocation. The results are illustrated numerically and their validity is interpreted physically.

Partially coherent nonparaxial modified Bessel-Gauss beams

The concept of partially coherent nonparaxial modified Bessel Gauss （MBG） beams is proposed. Based on the generalized Rayleigh-Sommerfeld diffraction integral, the analytical propagation equations of nonparaxial MBG beams in free space are derived and analysed, and some special cases are discussed. In particular, under the paraxial approximation our results reduce to the corresponding paraxial ones. Numerical calculation examples are given to illustrate the dependence of intensity and spectral degree of coherence on the beam order m, ζ and f parameters, and to compare the difference between the paraxial and nonparaxial results.

Focusing Properties of Partially Coherent Controllable Dark-Hollow Beams through a Thin Lens

Analytical propagation formulas are derived for partially coherent controllable dark-hollow beams （CDHBs） through a thin lens based on the generalized Huygens-Fresnel integral. The expressions of the position for maximum irradiance on-axis and the relative focal shift are evaluated by the analytical propagation formulas. Our numerical results show that both the relative focal shift and the effective beam width of focused partially coherent CDHBs are mainly determined by the initial transverse coherence width 6g and the Fresnel number Nw, which are also affected by the changes of both the dark-size adjusting parameter p and the order N of CDHBs.

Propagation of high-power partially coherent fibre laser beams in a real environment

The propagation performance of high-power partially coherent fibre laser beams in a real environment is inves- tigated and the theoretical model of a high-power fibre laser propagating in a real environment is established. The influence of a collimating system and thermal blooming is considered together with atmospheric turbulence and me- chanical jitter. The laser energy concentration of partially coherent beams in the far field is calculated and analysed based on the theoretical model. It is shown that the propagation performance of partially coherent beams depends on the collimating system, atmospheric turbulence, mechanical jitter and thermal blooming. The propagation performance of partially coherent beams and fully coherent beams is studied and the results show that partially coherent beams are less sensitive to the influence of thermal blooming, which results in that the energy degeneration for partially coherent beams is only 50% of that for fully coherent beams. Both partially coherent beams and fully coherent beams become less sensitive to thermal blooming when the average structural constant of the refraction index fluctuations increases to 1.7×10^-14 m^-2/3. The investigation presents a reference for applications of a high-power fibre laser system.

Can two partially coherent cosh-Gaussian beams generate far fields with the same spectral degree of coherence?

Taking partially coherent cosh-Gaussian （ChG） beams as an example of more general partially coherent beams, we have studied the spectral degree of coherence of partially coherent ChG beams in the far field. It is shown that, unlike Gaussian Schell-model （GSM） beams, in the strict sense there do not exist two partially coherent ChG beams which can generate far fields with the same spectral degree of coherence. However, under certain conditions it is possible to find two partially coherent ChG beams with the same spectral degree of coherence in the far field.

Design of phase plates for shaping partially coherent beams by simulated annealing

Taking the Gaussian Schell-model beam as a typical example of partially coherent beams, this paper applies the simulated annealing （SA） algorithm to the design of phase plates for shaping partially coherent beams. A flow diagram is presented to illustrate the procedure of phase optimization by the SA algorithm. Numerical examples demonstrate the advantages of the SA algorithm in shaping partially coherent beams. An uniform flat-topped beam profile with maximum reconstruction error RE 〈 1.74% is achieved. A further extension of the approach is discussed.

The Wigner distribution functions of coherent and partially coherent Bessel-Gaussian beams

Based on the integral representation of the Bessel functions and the generating function of the Tricomi function, an analytical expression of the Wigner distribution function （WDF） for a coherent or partially coherent Bessel Gaussian beam is presented. The reduced two-dimensional WDFs are also demonstrated graphically, which reveals the dependence of the reduced WDFs on the beam parameters.

Scintillation of partially coherent Gaussian–Schell model beam propagation in slant atmospheric turbulence considering inner- and outer-scale effects

Based on the modified Rytov theory and the international telecommunication union-radio （ITU-R） slant atmospheric structure constant model, the uniform scintillation index of partially coherent Gaussian-Schell model （GSM） beam propa- gation in the slant path is derived from weak- to strong-turbulence regions considering inner- and outer-scale effects. The effects of wavelength of beams and inner- and outer-scale of turbulence on scintillation are analyzed numerically. Compar- ison between the scintillation of GSM beams under the von Karman spectrum and that of beams under the modified Hill spectrum is made. The results obtained show that the scintillation index obtained under the von Karman spectrum is smaller than that under the modified Hill spectrum. This study can find theory bases for the experiments of the partially coherent GSM beam propagation through atmospheric turbulence.

Impact of atmospheric turbulence on coherent beam combining for laser weapon systems

The performance of a laser weapon system based on coherent beam combining(CBC)depends on its propagation properties in the atmosphere.In this study,an analytical model based on partial coherent beam combining(PCBC)for assumed coherence coefficients between beams in a CBC lattice was developed.The Kolmogorov model of atmospheric turbulence and the Hufnagel-Valley model of C^(2)_(n) dependence on atmospheric parameters were implemented.Novel simplified metrics were proposed to assess the CBC performance.Several beam profiles(super-Gaussian,truncated Gaussian,etc.)and geometries were analyzed in terms of maximal intensity in the far field.An approximate formula for PCBC efficiency dependent on the Fried radius was proposed.The results of CBC modeling were compared to those of the Gaussian beam propagation model in a turbulent atmosphere.The dependence of CBC performance on the C^(2)_(n) parameter,range,and elevation angle was analyzed.It could be concluded that the application of CBC for medium and long range propagation is impractical without an effective adaptive optics system.