Date of Award
2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Physics and Astronomy
Committee Chair
James Miller
Committee Member
Kenneth Herren
Committee Member
Richard Lieu
Committee Member
Lingze Duan
Committee Member
Michael Helle
Subject(s)
Lasers, Beam optics
Abstract
Low order Laguerre-Gaussian beams have been produced (from the Hermite-Gaussian profile emitted by a Helium-Neon laser) in the UAH Turbulence Lab. Both collimated and converging beams propagate a free space path (with and without turbulence) of 164m in the current experimental arrangement. Experimental data showing the relationship between the spatial coherence radius of a lowest order Gaussian beam and the Fried parameter has been verified. Data supporting a new relationship between the low order Laguerre-Gaussian spatial coherence radius (now defined as the ouroboros radius) and the Fried parameter has been collected and analyzed. The index of refraction structure constant values varied over three orders of magnitude. Two new effects have been experimentally observed for Laguerre-Gaussian laser beams: the spatial coherence radius (ouroboros radius) and beam wander tracking. The TASC algorithm was developed to empirically determine the degree of coherence, the mutual coherence function, and the wave structure function for Laguerre-Gaussian laser beams.
Recommended Citation
Gregory, Samantha Jo, "Propagation of Laguerre-Gaussian laser beams through heat-induced optical turbulence" (2023). Dissertations. 272.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-dissertations/272