Measurements of Intensity Scintillations and Probability Density Functions of Retroreflected Broadband 980-nm Laser Light in Atmospheric Turbulence

Abstract

Intensity scintillation variances and intensity probability density functions (PDFs) were experimentally measured for broadband (2 nm), 980-nm laser light reflected by two or more corner cube retroreflectors as a function of retroreflector lateral spacing over a short (75 m) atmospheric optical path. The PDFs transitioned from broad doublepeaked beta-shaped densities to lognormal as the retroreflector spacing was increased to exceed the optical field's lateral coherence length. Specific spacing for a given average atmospheric structural C2n eliminated interference between the light beams returned by the retroreflectors.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 2004
Accession Number
ADA472236

Entities

People

  • Eun Oh
  • Frederic M. Davidson
  • G. C. Gilbreath
  • Stephane Bucaille

Organizations

  • Johns Hopkins University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Atmospheric Motion
  • Bandwidth
  • Broadband
  • Detectors
  • Intensity
  • Laser Beams
  • Laser Diodes
  • Lasers
  • Measurement
  • Photodetectors
  • Probability
  • Quantum Wells
  • Reflectors
  • Retroreflectors
  • Scintillation
  • Turbulence
  • Waveplates

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Optical Physics and Photonics.
  • Spectroscopy.
  • Statistical inference.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Space