Characterization of infrared laser beam through atmospheric optical turbulence in laboratory environment

The atmospheric effects on the propagation of light have been a matter of interest in fields like astronomy, meteorology, and optical communications where phase variations of wavefront have a significant impact in detection systems. The effects of the optical turbulence on the laser beam change from one region to another. This is linked to the atmospheric characteristics of the area (relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, and temperature). Our research center is in a region with harsh atmospheric conditions for optical propagation. For this reason, it is important to measure and replicate these conditions in the laboratory environment. In this work, we present the results of our laboratory experimental setup to characterize infrared beam at 1064-nm using a turbulence chamber designed by our team. In our experimental setup, the transversal windspeed is varied in the turbulence generator chamber, and the beam centroid is measured after 4-m propagation path for different wavelengths and different optical powers. The beam is analyzed before and after the turbulence generation chamber. In this paper, we report our initial results in developing a laboratory experimental setup to emulate Middle East atmospheric conditions and compensate for these effects using an adaptive optics system.