Enhanced vortex beams resistance to turbulence with polarization modulation.

Highlights • Propagation model of radially polarized vortex beams in atmospheric turbulence is established. • A radially polarized vortex beam can reduce beam spreading and wander effects in the atmosphere. • Polarization modulation can be an approach to mitigate turbulent effects on OAM-based systems. Abstract Adopting a vortex beam with poor coherence can reduce turbulence-induced beam spreading and wander effects in the atmosphere, but it intensifies the degradation rate of its beam profile from a doughnut shape into a Gaussian shape. Transmission quality of Orbital–angular–momentum (OAM) mode carried by a vortex beam is closely related to its evolution of intensity distribution. After appropriate polarization modulation, a radially polarized vortex beam has a better performance on the reduction of beam spreading and wander effects than its scalar counterpart. A radially polarized vortex beam can also lower the degradation rate of its beam profile and keep "OAM information" a longer distance. Therefore, appropriate polarization modulation can be an effective approach to mitigate the adverse turbulent effects on OAM-based systems operated in the atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]