Thermal blooming induced phase change and its compensation of a Gaussian beam propagation in an absorbing medium

A high-power laser beam propagating in an absorbing medium, thermal blooming causes phase distortion, which is severe for the beam quality. In this Letter, a feasible approach for obtaining the phase change induced by thermal blooming is proposed. In addition, based on the aforementioned phase change, an alternative solution of phase compensation near the receiver is provided, which may enrich the previous compensation method (i.e., using an adaptive optics system near the beam transmitter). These findings may have potential applications in optical communication, astronomical imaging, and related areas.