Shaping propagation invariant laser beams

Michael Soskind; Rose Soskind; Yakov Soskind

doi:10.1117/1.OE.54.11.111309

3 September 2015 Shaping propagation invariant laser beams

Michael Soskind, Rose Soskind, Yakov Soskind

Author Affiliations +

Optical Engineering, Vol. 54, Issue 11, 111309 (September 2015). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.54.11.111309

Abstract

Propagation-invariant structured laser beams possess several unique properties and play an important role in various photonics applications. The majority of propagation invariant beams are produced in the form of laser modes emanating from stable laser cavities. Therefore, their spatial structure is limited by the intracavity mode formation. We show that several types of anamorphic optical systems (AOSs) can be effectively employed to shape laser beams into a variety of propagation invariant structured fields with different shapes and phase distributions. We present a propagation matrix approach for designing AOSs and defining mode-matching conditions required for preserving propagation invariance of the output shaped fields. The propagation matrix approach was selected, as it provides a more straightforward approach in designing AOSs for shaping propagation-invariant laser beams than the alternative technique based on the Gouy phase evolution, especially in the case of multielement AOSs. Several practical configurations of optical systems that are suitable for shaping input laser beams into a diverse variety of structured propagation invariant laser beams are also presented. The laser beam shaping approach was applied by modeling propagation characteristics of several input laser beam types, including Hermite–Gaussian, Laguerre–Gaussian, and Ince–Gaussian structured field distributions. The influence of the Ince–Gaussian beam semifocal separation parameter and the azimuthal orientation between the input laser beams and the AOSs onto the resulting shape of the propagation invariant laser beams is presented as well.

Citation Download Citation

Michael Soskind, Rose Soskind, and Yakov Soskind "Shaping propagation invariant laser beams," Optical Engineering 54(11), 111309 (3 September 2015). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.54.11.111309

Published: 3 September 2015

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