Abstract: Based on the extended Huygens-Fresnel principle and matrix methods in optics, the scintillation properties of the polarized and partially coherent laser beam at the receiver are studied, and the effect of the atmospheric turbulence both on the laser beam as it propagates to the target and on the scattered field as it propagates back to the receiver is considered. The combination of the Jones matrix of the wave plate and the ABCD ray-transfer matrix is considered. The fourth moment of the wave field is focused on and the expression of the scintillation index is derived. The influences of the refractive-index structure constant, the wavelength, the spot radius and the spatial correlation length of the beam on the scintillation index are discussed. The numerical results show that the scintillation index of the polarized and partially coherent laser beam increases to peak at first and then decreases gradually with the increase of distance between the target and transmitter. The beam whose coherence property is poor induces a small scintillation index, and a large change on the scintillation index follows a little change on the spatial correlation length, while the beam with good coherence property induces a big scintillation index, and the scintillation index does not change with change on the spatial correlation length.