Spreading and direction of Gaussian-Schell model beam through a non-Kolmogorov turbulence

We show that the far-field beam spreading and direction of partially coherent Gaussian-Schell model (GSM) beams are independent on the spatial coherence of the source through non-Kolmogorov atmospheric turbulence, which has potential applications in long-distance free-space optical communication. The effects of spatial coherence, exponent value alpha, and inner scale and outer scale of atmospheric turbulence on beam spreading are studied in details. The GSM beam has greater spreading for smaller inner scale or bigger outer scale through non-Kolmogorov turbulent atmosphere. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America