Thermal self-interaction of strongly focused laser beams in the atmosphere

An investigation is reported of the propagation of a cw focused laser beam (λ = 10.6 μm) along atmospheric paths much shorter than the diffraction length. The conditions under which thermal distortions of a strongly focused beam do not prevent establishment of a high intensity in its focal plane are determined. Selection of the relationship between the initial beam radius and the focal length is used to propose the optimization method, which makes it possible to increase considerably the concentration of the power of laser radiation at the reception point and to reduce the beam deviation along the path.