Propagation characteristics of the high-power partially-polarized partially-coherent beam in the atmosphere

In this work, the formulas of critical power and self-focusing length of a partially-polarized partially-coherent beam are derived. Due to simultaneous consideration of the polarization and coherence features, it plays a beneficial role in avoiding air breakdown and prolonging the propagation distance compared with the Gaussian beam. Particularly, the analytical expressions of the essential physical quantities are obtained, including the phase, beam width, effective coherence length, intensity, degree of polarization, and degree of coherence, and these nonlinear propagation characteristics are numerically analyzed: the first five physical quantities vary periodically with propagation distance, indicating that this kind of laser beam can maintain a stable and high-power propagation in the atmosphere; meanwhile, degree of coherence indicates the existence of self-healing capability during the propagation process. These findings may have potential applications in energy conveyance, space debris removal, high-power, long-range propagation, and related fields.