Gaussian beam solutions in a longitudinally varying medium with a transverse quadratic-index profile.

Abstract

Research in laser-plasma interaction, high harmonic generation, and filamentation involves Gaussian beams propagating through inhomogeneous media, where the refractive index varies spatially in both the transverse and longitudinal directions. However, most analytical Gaussian beam solutions to the paraxial wave equation for inhomogeneous media are limited to media with the refractive index only varying quadratically in the transverse direction. In this paper, we present a new class of Gaussian beam solutions for a longitudinally varying medium with a transverse quadratic-index profile. We also highlight a few examples from this class of solutions, which include features such as a one-parameter generalization of the free-space Gaussian beam, beam "collimation," beam self-focusing, and the existence of multiple beam waists.