Field correlations of laser arrays in atmospheric turbulence

Correlations of the fields at the receiver plane are evaluated after a symmetrical radial laser array beam incident field propagates in a turbulent atmosphere. The laser array configuration is composed of a number of the same size laser beamlets symmetrically located around a ring having a radius that determines the distance of the ring from the origin. The variations of the correlations of the received field originating from such laser array incidence versus the diagonal length starting from a receiver point are examined for various laser array parameters, turbulence parameters, and the locations of the reception points. Laser array parameters consist of the ring radius and the number and size of the beamlets. Structure constant, link length, and wavelength are the turbulence parameters whose effects on the field correlation of the laser arrays are also investigated. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America