The kurtosis parametric characterization of the passage of a standard Hermite–Gaussian beam and an elegant Hermite–Gaussian beam through a fractional Fourier transformation system with a spherically aberrated lens

Abstract

The propagation characteristics of the kurtosis parameters of a standard Hermite–Gaussian (SHG) beam and of an elegant Hermite–Gaussian (EHG) beam, each passing through a fractional Fourier transformation (FRFT) system with a spherically aberrated lens, are studied in detail. Some numerical calculations are made by introducing an efficient algorithm, based on the Collins diffraction integral formula. The resulting graphs illustrate the striking difference between ideal FRFT systems and those with a spherically aberrated lens. The kurtosis parameters of both SHG and EHG beams passing through a type I Lohmann system with a spherically aberrated lens are seen to change with the fractional order periodically and the fundamental period is 4, but for type II the fundamental period is 2. Different values of spherical aberration coefficients affect the kurtosis parameters in greatly different ways. The values of the kurtosis parameters of a SHG beam passing through either type of Lohmann system with a spherically aberrated lens are no longer equal to those of an EHG beam, even when they have the same fractional orders and the same spherical aberration coefficients.