Huygens-Fresnel Diffraction Integral Research Articles

Mode calculations in asymmetrically aberrated laser resonators using the Huygens–Fresnel kernel formulation

A theoretical framework is presented for calculating three-dimensional resonator modes of both stable and unstable laser resonators. The resonant modes of an optical resonator are computed using a kernel formulation of the resonator round-trip Huygens-Fresnel diffraction integral. To substantiate the validity of this method, both stable and unstable resonator mode results are presented. The predicted lowest loss and higher order modes of a semi-confocal stable resonator are in agreement with the analytic formulation. Higher order modes are determined for an asymmetrically aberrated confocal unstable resonator, whose lowest loss unaberrated mode is consistent with published results. The three-dimensional kernel method provides a means to evaluate multi-mode configurations with two-dimensional aberrations that cannot be decomposed into one-dimensional representations.

Slanting propagation of stochastic electromagnetic twist anisotropic Gaussian–Schell model beams in turbulent atmosphere

Based on the extended Huygens–Fresnel diffraction integral and the unified theory of coherence and polarization, the slanting propagation properties of stochastic electromagnetic twist anisotropic Gaussian–Schell model (ETAGSM) beams in turbulent atmosphere have been investigated. Both numerical calculation and physical interpretation are obtained. The influence of the atmospheric turbulence and the source parameters on the polarization distribution, intensity distribution and coherence distribution has been studied in great detail. The investigation reveals that slanting propagation can weaken the influence of atmospheric turbulence on the spectral properties of stochastic ETAGSM beams more obviously. It is also shown that we can modulate the spectral degree of polarization in the output plane especially in the far field by simply controlling the coherence, the spot width or the twisty properties of the source beams. The distribution of the spectral degree of polarization and cross-polarization of the beams in the output plane is also given out.

Double-distance propagation of Gaussian beams passing through a tilted cat-eye optical lens in a turbulent atmosphere

By using the extended Huygens-Fresnel diffraction integral and the method of expanding the aperture function into a finite sum of complex Gaussian functions, an approximate analytical formula of the double-distance propagation for Gaussian beam passing through a tilted cat-eye optical lens and going back along the entrance way in a turbulent atmosphere has been derived. Through numerical calculation, the effects of incidence angle, propagation distance, and structure constant on the propagation properties of a Gaussian beam in a turbulent atmosphere are studied. It is found that the incidence angle creates an unsymmetrical average intensity distribution pattern, while the propagation distance and the structure constant can each create a smooth and symmetrical average intensity distribution pattern. The average intensity peak gradually deviates from the centre, and the central average intensity value decreases quickly with the increase in incidence angle, while a larger structure constant can bring the average intensity peak back to the centre.

Narrowing effect of focused polychromatic laser with small Fresnel number

Starting from Huygens–Fresnel diffraction integral, the field representation of focused polychromatic laser beams is derived. Intensity distributions of the focused polychromatic laser are investigated with different Fresnel number and bandwidth at focal plane. It is found that the width of transverse intensity distribution of the focused polychromatic laser decreases with increasing the bandwidth at the focal plane and zero local time, and the transverse intensity presents more obvious narrowing effects with smaller Fresnel number. A physical explanation for the narrowing effects is given based on a simplified expression.

平顶高斯光束在梯度折射率介质中的传输特性

By using the method of generalized Huygens-Fresnel diffraction integral, the transmission analytical expression of flattened Gaussian beams in gradient-index media is deduced. The influence on the propagation properties of the medium gradient refractive index coefficient and the beam order is discussed. The results show that when flattened Gaussian beams propagate in gradient-index media, the intensity distribution on the axis varies periodically. Its change period is decided by the gradient-index coefficient, and has nothing to do with the beam order. The transverse intensity distribution of the peak on the axis is affected largely by the gradient-index coefficient and the beam order. The maximum on the plane with transversal intensity increases with the increase of the gradient-index coe

Intensity fluctuations of partially coherent laser beam arrays in weak atmospheric turbulence

The intensity fluctuation of a partially coherent laser beam array is examined. For this purpose, the on-axis scintillation index at the receiver plane is analytically formulated via the extended Huygens–Fresnel diffraction integral in conditions of weak atmospheric turbulence. The effects of the propagation length, number of beamlets, radial distance, source size, wavelength of operation and coherence level on the scintillation index are investigated for a horizontal propagation path. It is found that, regardless of the number of beamlets, the scintillation index always rises with an increasing propagation length. If laser beam arrays become less coherent, the scintillation index begins to fall with growing source sizes. Given the same level of partial coherence, slightly less scintillations will occur when the radial distance of the beamlets from the origin is increased. At partial coherence levels, lower scintillations are observed for larger numbers of beamlets. Both for fully and partially coherent laser beam arrays, scintillations will drop on increasing wavelengths.

Spectral shifts of partially coherent radial array beams passing through ABCD optical systems

The expressions for the spectral intensity of partially coherent Gaussian Schell-model (GSM) radial array beams for both the correlated and uncorrelated superpositions passing through ABCD optical systems have been derived by using the extended Huygens–Fresnel diffraction integral. The effects of the normalized radius R, the number of beamlets N, the spatial coherent parameter of array beamlets β and the optical system parameters on the on-axis and off-axis relative spectral shifts for the two types of superposition have been discussed in detail. The results show that for the correlated superposition, the on-axis spectral intensity in free space and the off-axis spectral intensity on the geometrical focal plane depends on the source spectral density S 0( ω), the spatial coherent parameter of array beamlets β, the generalized Fresnel number of the system F, the normalized radius R and the number of beamlets N, whereas the spectral intensity for the uncorrelated superposition is independent of the number of beamlets N. Furthermore, as for on the actual focal plane, the off-axis spectral intensity for the two types of superposition is closely related to N.

Changes in the state of polarization of apertured stochastic electromagnetic modified Bessel–Gauss beams in free-space propagation

By using the generalized Huygens–Fresnel diffraction integral, the analytical expressions for the cross-spectral density matrix, spectral degree of polarization, orientation angle and degree of ellipticity of polarization ellipse of apertured stochastic electromagnetic modified Bessel–Gauss beams (MBGBs) through a paraxial optical ABCD system are derived, and used to study the changes in the state of polarization of apertured stochastic electromagnetic MBGBs propagating in free space. The invariance of the on-axis state of polarization of unapertured stochastic electromagnetic MBGBs propagating through paraxial optical ABCD systems is illustrated analytically and numerically. For apertured stochastic electromagnetic MBGBs, the on-axis spectral degree of polarization, orientation angle and degree of ellipticity of polarization ellipse increase with increasing propagation distance, and approach asymptotic values when the propagation distance is large enough. There is a uniform distribution region of the state of polarization around the center of the beams whose range decreases with increasing truncation parameter. In addition, the state of polarization of apertured stochastic electromagnetic MBGBs upon propagation can be modulated by controlling the truncation parameter.

Determination of the beam centroid of an obstructed focused Gaussian laser beam

Diffraction of an obstructed focused Gaussian laser beam has been treated theoretically using the Huygens-Fresnel diffraction integral and was found to be in good agreement with experimental measurements. The obstruction is a vertically oriented opaque cylinder treated as a flat hard aperture. Measurements and calculations are compared for the diffracted irradiance profile and the beam centroid as a function of cylinder diameter and lateral and longitudinal placement along the optic axis. The cylinders used were gauge pins and/or wires with diameters from 0.5 to 100 mil.

Arbitrary laser beam propagation in free space

The propagation of arbitrary laser beams in free space is examined. For this purpose, starting with an incident field of arbitrary field distribution, the intensity at the receiver plane is formulated via Huygens Fresnel diffraction integral. Arbitrary source field profile is produced by decomposing the source into incremental areas (pixels). The received field through the propagation in free space is found by superposing the contributions from all source incremental areas. The proposed method enables us to evaluate the received intensity originating from any type of source field. Using the arbitrary beam excitation, intensity of various laser beams such as cos-Gaussian, cosh-Gaussian, general type beams are checked to be consistent with the already existing results in literature, and the received intensity distributions are obtained for some original arbitrary beam field profiles. Our received intensity formulation for the arbitrary source field profiles presented in this paper can find application in optics communication links, reflection from rough surfaces, optical cryptography and optical imaging systems.

The effect of atmospheric turbulence on the propagation properties of optical vortices formed by using coherent laser beam arrays

In this paper, we consider the effect of atmospheric turbulence on the propagation of an optical vortex, which may be formed from a radial coherent laser beam array with an initially well-defined phase distribution. The propagation formula of the radial coherent laser array passing through a turbulent atmosphere is analytically derived by using the extended Huygens–Fresnel diffraction integral. Based on the derived formula, the effect of the atmospheric turbulence on the propagation properties has been studied in great detail. Our main results show that atmospheric turbulence may result in the prohibition of the formation of the optical vortex or the disappearance of the formed optical vortex, which are very different from the behaviour in free space. An optical vortex formed with higher topological charge may propagate over a much longer distance in a moderately or weakly turbulent atmosphere. After sufficient long-distance atmospheric propagation, the output beam (initially with different phase distributions) finally loses the vortex property and gradually becomes a Gaussian-shaped beam, and in this case the output beam actually becomes incoherent light fields due to the decoherence effect of the turbulent atmosphere.

Spectral anomalies of diffracted pulsed Hermite-cosh-Gaussian beams in dispersive media

Starting from the Huygens–Fresnel diffraction integral, the analytical expressions for the power spectra of diffracted pulsed Hermite-cosh-Gaussian (HChG) in dispersive media are derived and used to study the spectral anomalies of pulsed HChG. Numerical results are given to illustrate the dependence of spectral anomalies behavior on the decentered parameter, truncation parameter and dispersive property of the medium. The potential applications of spectral anomalies of ultrashort pulsed beams in the information encoding and information transmission are considered.

Studies on propagation of laser beam array with initial phase distributions in a turbulent atmosphere

Based on the coherent superposition principle and the generalized Huygens-Fresnel diffraction integral, the properties of a radial beam array with definite initial phase distributions propagating through a turbulent atmosphere are analytically investigated. It is shown that, when the propagation distance is short, the output intensity distribution will gradually take on a spiral shape, which means an optical vortex. However, under the effect of the atmospheric turbulence, the output vortex property gradually disappears, and changes to a bright-cantered beam without vortex property. Furthermore, the weaker the atmospheric turbulence is, the longer distance the output optical vortex （the center-dark beam） can propagate over.

The Quantum Theory of Optical Communications

Communication theory applied to lightwave channels is ordinarily carried out using the semiclassical theory of photodetection. Recent development of nonclassical light sources-whose photodetection statistics require the use of quantum theory-plus increasing interest in optics-based approaches to quantum information processing necessitates a thorough understanding of the similarities and distinctions between the semiclassical and quantum theories of optical communications. This paper is addressed to that need, focusing, for convenience, on the free-space communication channel using Gaussian states of light. The quantum version of the Huygens-Fresnel diffraction integral is reviewed, along with the semiclassical and quantum theories of direct, homodyne, and heterodyne detection. Maximally entangled Gaussian state light is used, in conjunction with quantum photodetection theory, to explain the nonclassical effects seen in Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometry and violation of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt form of Bell's inequality. The classical information capacities of several bosonic channels are reviewed, and shown to exceed what can be achieved using conventional optical receivers.

Formation of optical vortices using coherent laser beam arrays

We present a proposal to generate an optical vortex beam by using the coherent-superposition of multi-beams in a radially symmetric configuration. In terms of the generalized Huygens–Fresnel diffraction integral, we have derived the general propagation expression for the coherent radial arrays of laser beams. Using the derived formulae, we have analyzed the effects of the beamlet number N, the separation distance ρ of the beamlets and the topological charge m on the intensity and phase distributions of the resultant beams. Our simulation results show that optical vortices could be efficiently generated due to the coherent-superposition effect of all beamlets, during the propagation process of the coherent radial array of laser beams with the initial well-organized phase distributions through the free space. In the focusing system, the resultant beam near the focusing plane has the strong rotational effect with the phase helicity.

Partially coherent vortex beams focused by an aperture lens with coma

We investigate the influence of the coma of the lens on the focusing of partially coherent vortex beams. On the basis of the generalized Huygens-Fresnel diffraction integral, the formula for the intensity distribution in the focal plane is derived. The numerically calculated results are given to show that the coma of the lens leads to the asymmetry of focused intensity distribution. The influence of coherence length on the focused intensity distribution is also investigated. It is found that the effect of coma is not obvious when the coherence length is small. Intensity profiles for three different values of the azimuthal angle are plotted to illustrate the effect of coma and the influence of coherence length.

Changes in the intensity distribution and polarization of non-uniformly polarized beams focused by a spherically aberrated lens with annular aperture

Based on the generalized Huygens–Fresnel diffraction integral and beam coherence polarization (BCP) matrix formulation, the focusing properties of a type of non-uniformly polarized (NUP) beam through a spherical aberrated lens with annular aperture are studied. The dependence of focal shift, intensity distribution, power in the bucket (PIB) and degree of polarization on the spherical aberration coefficient, obscure ratio and polarization parameters is illustrated numerically. The focusing of NUP beams by a spherically aberrated lens with circular aperture is treated as a special case, where the inner radius of the aperture is equal to zero.

Spectral behavior of pulsed Bessel beams focused by a dispersive lens

Starting from the Huygens–Fresnel diffraction integral, the analytical expression for the power spectrum of pulsed Bessel beams focused by a dispersive aperture lens is derived and used to study the spectral anomalies of pulsed Bessel beams in the focused field. Numerical calculation results are given to illustrate the dependence of spectral anomalous behavior on the pulse parameters, truncation parameter and material dispersion of the lens. It is shown that near the phase singularities the spectral anomalies may take place. The potential applications of spectral anomalies of ultrashort pulsed beams in information encoding and information transmission are considered.

Propagation of non-uniformly polarized beams in a turbulent atmosphere

Based on the extended Huygens–Fresnel diffraction integral, the propagation of non-uniformly polarized (NUP) beam in a turbulent atmosphere has been investigated. The influence of the source parameters and the atmospheric turbulence on the intensity distribution and polarization distribution has been studied in great details. It is shown that the non-uniform polarization of the beam influences the intensity distribution and makes the polarization distribution oscillate in the output plane. It is also found that the atmospheric turbulence can reduce the influence of non-uniform polarization of the beam on the intensity distribution and polarization distribution in the output plane.

Spectral anomalies of pulsed Hermite–Gaussian beams focused by a dispersive aperture lens

Starting from the Huygens–Fresnel diffraction integral, the recurrence expressions for the power spectra of pulsed Hermite–Gaussian (H–G) beams focused by a dispersive aperture lens are derived and the spectral anomalies of pulsed H–G beams in the focused field are studied. Numerical results are given to illustrate the dependence of spectral anomalies’ behavior on the pulse parameters, truncation parameter and material dispersion of the lens. The potential applications of spectral anomalies of ultrashort pulsed beams in information encoding and information transmission are considered.