Characteristics of scintillations and bit error rate of partially coherent rectangular array beams in turbulence

According to the paraxial form of the extended Huygens-Fresnel principle the analytical formulas of the on-axis average irradiance and the on-axis scintillation index for a rectangular array Gaussian Schell-model (RAGSM) beams in atmospheric turbulence have been derived The on-axis bit error rate has been analyzed quantitatively Their effects of the turbulence intensity the initial correlation length and the array parameters including the beamlet number (M and N) and the array separation distance (x(0) and y(0)) have been discussed The results show that the correlated and uncorrelated superposition RAGSM beams exhibit the different on-axis intensity distribution the similar variation of the on-axis scintillation and the bit error rate At the nearer propagation distance the on-axis scintillation rises against propagation distance with the increasing beamlet number and the decreasing array separation distance when as the situation is reversed at the farther propagation distance The effects of array parameters on the bit error rate are similar to that on the scintillation For a given propagation distance the scintillation index increases with the stronger coherence and the larger waist width of the array beam (C) 2010 Elsevier BV All rights reserved