Elegant Hermite–Laguerre–Gaussian beams

Abstract

A novel family of paraxial laser beams called elegant Hermite-Laguerre-Gaussian beams (EHLGBs) are presented. The EHLGBs, a unity of elegant Hermite-Gaussian beams (EHGBs) and elegant Laguerre-Gaussian beams (ELGBs), constitute the exact and continuous transition modes between EHGBs and ELGBs when an additional parameter continuously changes. The virtual source for generation of the EHLGBs is identified. From the spectral representation of the elegant Hermite-Lauguerre-Gaussian waves, we derive the first three orders of nonparaxial corrections for the corresponding paraxial EHLGBs.