Inverted pin beams for robust long-range propagation through atmospheric turbulence

TL;DR

This paper introduces inverted pin beams with a unique spatial profile that enhances robustness in long-range atmospheric optical communication, outperforming traditional beams in turbulent conditions.

Contribution

The paper presents a new class of optical beams called inverted pin beams, characterized by a Bessel-like profile that adapts during propagation, improving turbulence resilience.

Findings

Inverted pin beams outperform Gaussian, Bessel, and pin beams in turbulent environments.

They maintain lower scintillation indices in moderate and strong turbulence.

The beams' transverse profile widens during propagation, enhancing robustness.

Abstract

We introduce a new class of optical beams, which feature a spatial profile akin to an ``inverted pin''. In particular, we asymptotically find that close to the axis the transverse amplitude profile of such beams takes the form of a Bessel function with width that gradually increases during propagation. We examine numerically the behavior of such inverted pin beams in turbulent environments as measured via the scintillation index, and show that they outperform Gaussian beams (collimated and focused) as well as Bessel beams and regular pin beams, which are all optimized, especially in the moderate and strong fluctuation regimes.