Effect of steady-state thermal blooming on atmospheric propagation of Laguerre Gaussian beam

Abstract

In this article, the effect of steady-state thermal blooming on various modes of Laguerre Gaussian (LG) beams propagating through the atmosphere is studied analytically. The intensity and distortion parameter expressions for different modes of LG beams are derived and analyzed under the influence of thermal blooming. The outcomes demonstrate that augmenting the propagation distance, input power, and atmospheric absorption coefficient while keeping other parameters constant intensifies the thermal blooming impact on the LG beam. Conversely, a rise in the initial radius and transverse wind speed decreases the impact of thermal blooming. The results indicate that as the mode order of Laguerre Gaussian beams increases, they experience a reduced thermal blooming effect. Higher LG modes exhibit less intensity distortion than lower LG modes. The shift in centroid position due to thermal blooming is minimal in the higher mode of the LG beam, in contrast to the lower mode. These findings provide valuable insights into determining the beam quality and intensity variation of different modes of LG beams in thermal blooming.