Title :
9.4 - An investigation of laser wave depolarization due to atmospheric transmission
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Ele. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
fDate :
11/1/1967 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
A theoretical and an experimental analysis of optical depolarization due to atmospheric transmission is given. We used the geometrical optics approximation and applied Chernov´s three-dimensional ray statistics model for the calculations. The theory predicts that the root-mean-square change of the polarization angle of an optical beam propagating through the atmosphere is of the order of 10-9rad/km. This was found to increase linearly with the path-length. The experiment was designed to measure the amount of depolarization of a linearly polarized laser wave propagating through the atmosphere. The measurements over a 2.6-km path length indicated the absence of such an effect. The sensitivity of these measurements was limited by the equipment used to -42 dB in the daytime and to -45 dB at night.
Keywords :
Atmosphere; Atmospheric measurements; Atmospheric waves; Geometrical optics; Laser modes; Laser theory; Optical polarization; Optical propagation; Optical sensors; Statistics;
Journal_Title :
Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JQE.1967.1074404