Experimental investigation on the propagation of partially coherent fractional vortex beams in atmospheric turbulence

Partially coherent vortex beams have attracted growing interest due to their enhanced robustness and unique propagation characteristics in complex media. In this work, we experimentally investigate the behavior of partially coherent fractional vortex beams as they propagate through atmospheric turbulence. The beams are generated using a phase-only spatial light modulator and a rotating ground-glass disk modeled by the Gaussian Schell framework, and their degree of partial coherence is quantitatively characterized using a Young's double-slit interference plate. After transmission through a 1.2 m turbulence simulator, the effective beam radius exhibits a smoothed, quasi-linear growth trend between successive integer topological charges, indicating the suppression of discrete modal transitions by the combined effects of partial coherence and turbulence. The scintillation index decreases overall with increasing topological charge, while local enhancements near half-integer orders reveal the heightened turbulence sensitivity of modal interference. Moreover, partially obstructed PCFVBs show partial statistical self-reconstruction after turbulent propagation, whereas a fully coherent control under identical conditions shows no appreciable recovery, ruling out a purely diffractive fill-in. These results provide the first, to our knowledge, comprehensive experimental insight into the interplay among coherence, turbulence, and fractional vortex structure, offering new perspectives for designing turbulence-resistant structured-light systems.