Abstract

Theoretical evaluation of the effects of absorption at 10.6 μm on the diffracted field has been investigated. The physical model of the nonlinear interaction process includes the effects of absorption by CO₂ and H₂O, transverse flow and vibrational relaxation effects associated with atmospheric absorption by CO₂. The analysis is based upon the scalar wave equation in the Fresnel limit and the governing equation is integrated numerically using a stable, finite difference method. Diffraction patterns in the far field for an unfocused beam and at the focal point for a focused beam are presented. The atmosphere acts as a nonlinear lens with aberrations and the irradiance distributions exhibit a complicated filamentary pattern at the focal point.

© 1972 Optical Society of America

Effects of Absorption at 10.6 μ on Laser-Beam Transmission

J. Wallace and M. Camac
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 60(12) 1587-1594 (1970)

Limitations on the Atmospheric Thermal Effects for High-Power CO₂ Laser Beams*

E. L. Breig
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 62(4) 518-528 (1972)

Photon-Count Distributions and Irradiance Fluctuations of a Log-Normally Distributed Light Field*

Van Bluemel, Lorenzo M. Narducci, and Richard A. Tuft
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 62(11) 1309-1314 (1972)

Statistical Theory of Wave Propagation in a Random Medium and the Irradiance Distribution Function

K. Furutsu
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 62(2) 240-254 (1972)

Effect of Amplitude Filter on the Partially Space-Coherent Diffraction of a Defocused Optical System

P. K. Katti and B. N. Gupta
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 62(1) 41-44 (1972)