Incoherent superposition of off-axis polychromatic Hermite-Gaussian modes.

Abstract

We study a statistical ensemble of multimode laser beams. Each beam is made up of an incoherent superposition of off-axis polychromatic Hermite-Gaussian modes. We obtain analytic expressions for the squared beam radius, the waist position, the Rayleigh range, the skewness parameter, the kurtosis parameter, and the squared beam-propagation factor. We demonstrate that the squared beam radius has a quadratic dependence on the distance from the waist plane. The skewness parameter may be different from zero in the near-field zone, but it tends to zero in the far-field zone. The kurtosis parameter in the far-field zone coincides with the kurtosis parameter of the incoherent superposition of on-axis modes.