Coherent superposition of propagation-invariant laser beams

Abstract

The coherent superposition of propagation-invariant laser beams represents an important beam-shaping technique, and results in new beam shapes which retain the unique property of propagation invariance. Propagation-invariant laser beam shapes depend on the order of the propagating beam, and include Hermite-Gaussian and Laguerre-Gaussian beams, as well as the recently introduced Ince-Gaussian beams which additionally depend on the beam ellipticity parameter. While the superposition of Hermite-Gaussian and Laguerre-Gaussian beams has been discussed in the past, the coherent superposition of Ince-Gaussian laser beams has not received significant attention in literature. In this paper, we present the formation of propagation-invariant laser beams based on the coherent superposition of Hermite-Gaussian, Laguerre-Gaussian, and Ince-Gaussian beams of different orders. We also show the resulting field distributions of the superimposed Ince-Gaussian laser beams as a function of the ellipticity parameter. By changing the beam ellipticity parameter, we compare the various shapes of the superimposed propagation-invariant laser beams transitioning from Laguerre-Gaussian beams at one ellipticity extreme to Hermite-Gaussian beams at the other extreme.