On simulation and verification of the atmospheric turbulent phase screen with Zernike polynomials

In this article Zernike polynomials was used to produce atmospheric turbulence phase screen. Besides, the atmospheric coherence length and the phase structure function were used to verify whether the atmospheric turbulence phase screen is right or not. Simulation results show that, in the low spatial frequency components, the atmospheric turbulence phase screen generated with Zernike polynomial method was consistent with the theoretical values, but in the high spatial frequency components, the simulation results had big difference with the theoretical values. This is because Zernike polynomials method has inherent limitations. In addition, the simulation results also show that, the distribution of turbulence in the atmospheric turbulence phase screen can be changed by increasing the Zernike polynomials of orders or changing the receiving apertures, but which involves great and complex calculation. Therefore, in the specific application of the laser communication system, the best experimental program should be considered.