Inner scale effect on scintillation index of flat-topped beam in non-Kolmogorov weak turbulence

A simpler generalized expression of irradiance fluctuation for flat-topped beams is presented based on the Born and Rytov perturbation methods. The theoretical expression of the on-axis scintillation index in non-Kolmogorov weak atmospheric optics links is developed using the generalized von Karman spectrum model, and using the equivalent structure constant that is different for all power-law exponents. The effect of the inner scale on the on-axis scintillation index is examined comprehensively. It is observed that flat- topped beams happen to possess smaller scintillation indices at larger inner scale. The effects of the power law, flat-topped order, source size of the fundamental Gaussian beam, propagation distance, and wavelength are also analyzed. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America