info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Limits of the paraxial approximation in laser beams
Fecha
2007-04-15Registro en:
Vaveliuk, Pablo; Ruiz, Beatriz; Lencina, Alberto Germán; Limits of the paraxial approximation in laser beams; Optical Society of America; Optics Letters; 32; 8; 15-4-2007; 927-929
0146-9592
1539-4794
CONICET Digital
CONICET
Autor
Vaveliuk, Pablo
Ruiz, Beatriz
Lencina, Alberto Germán
Resumen
The validity of the paraxial approximation for laser beams in free space is studied via an integral criterion based on the propagation invariants of Helmholtz and paraxial wave equations. This approach allows one to determine the paraxial limit for beams with nondefined spot size and for beams described by more parameters in addition to typical longitudinal wavelength and transverse waist. As examples, the paraxiality of higher-order Hermite, Laguerre, and Bessel–Gaussian beams was completely determined. This method could be extended to nonlinear optics and Bose condensates.