Programmable simulator for beam propagation in turbulent atmosphere

The study of light propagation though the atmosphere is crucial in different areas such as astronomy, free-space communications, remote sensing, etc. Since outdoors experiments are expensive and difficult to reproduce it is important to develop realistic numerical and experimental simulations. It has been demonstrated that spatial light modulators (SLMs) are well-suited for simulating different turbulent conditions in the laboratory. Here, we present a programmable experimental setup based on liquid crystal SLMs for simulation and analysis of the beam propagation through weak turbulent atmosphere. The simulator allows changing the propagation distances and atmospheric conditions without the need of moving optical elements. Its performance is tested for Gaussian and vortex beams. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America