Quantifying the paraxiality for laser beams from the M2 factor

摘要

A useful relationship among the parameter called paraxial estimator [Opt. Lett. 32, 927 (2007)] and twonparameters concerning the beam quality, the M2 factor, and the beam spot size was derived. This relation-nship allows one to quantify the paraxiality for a monochromatic laser beam from standard measurementsnextending the applicability of such an estimator for real beams even if the beam profile shape does not havena closed-form representation. Hence, the paraxial estimator might be a suitable tool for deepening the analy-nsis on the quality of a laser beam. © 2009 Optical Society of America