Study on orbital angular momentum of Laguerre-Gaussian beam in a slant-path atmospheric turbulence

Abstract

Atmospheric turbulence can cause random variations of the refractive index, resulting in a spatial inhomogeneity. When a Laguerre-Gaussian beam is propagating through the atmospheric turbulence, spatial inhomogeneity can bring about the change of photon wave function that causes variations in the orbital angular momentum. This article discusses how turbulence media change the orbital angular momentum of photons as to form different photon states, when the Laguerre-Gaussian beam is propagating in a slant-path atmospheric turbulence, by calculating the weight of the spiral harmonic component of the beam energy. Analysis of the variations of orbital angular momentum of Laguerre-Gaussian beam in the turbulent medium has been carried out.