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Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Measurement of X-ray Beam Coherence along Multiple Directions Using 2-D Checkerboard Phase Grating
Published on: October 11, 2016
Mode analysis of spreading of partially coherent beams propagating through atmospheric turbulence
Tomohiro Shirai1, Aristide Dogariu, Emil Wolf
1Photonics Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-2-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-8564, Japan. t.shirai@aist.go.jp
Abstract:
The spreading of partially coherent beams propagating through atmospheric turbulence is studied by use of the coherent-mode representation of the beams. Specifically, we consider partially coherent Gaussian Schell-model beams entering the atmosphere, and we examine the spreading of each coherent mode, represented by a Hermite-Gaussian function, on propagation. We find that in atmospheric turbulence the relative spreading of higher-order modes is smaller than that of lower-order modes, whereas the relative spreading of all order modes is the same as in free space. This modal behavior successfully explains why under certain circumstances partially coherent beams are less affected by atmospheric turbulence than are fully spatially coherent laser beams.
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