Directionality of partially coherent annular flat-topped beams propagating through atmospheric turbulence

The closed-form expression for the angular spread of partially coherent annular flat-topped beams propagating through atmospheric turbulence is derived by using the integral transform technique. In comparison with previous work, the results obtained in this paper are more general. It is shown that, except for equivalent Gaussian Schell-model (GSM) beams as pointed out in Ref. [T. Shirai, A. Dogariu, E. Wolf, Opt. Lett. 28 (2003) 610], there also exist equivalent annular and non-annular beams which may generate the same directionality as the corresponding fully coherent Gaussian beam both in free space and in turbulence. The theoretical results are illustrated by numerical examples and interpreted physically. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.