title: Paraxial propagation of a partially coherent Hermite-Gaussian beam through aligned and misaligned ABCD optical systems.
abstract: Paraxial propagation of a partially coherent Hermite-Gaussian beam through aligned and misaligned ABCD optical systems is investigated based on the generalized Collins formula for treating the propagation of a partially coherent beam through such optical systems. Analytical formulas for the cross-spectral density of a partially coherent Hermite-Gaussian beam propagating through such optical systems are derived. As an application example, we derive the propagation formulas for a partially coherent flattened Gaussian beam by expressing it as a superposition of a series of partially coherent Hermite-Gaussian beams by using polynomial expansion. The focusing properties of a partially coherent Hermite-Gaussian beam focused by a thin lens are studied as a numerical example.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Research-Group, Institute of Optics, Information and Photonics, University of Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany. yangjian_cai@yahoo.com.cn
authors.forename: Yangjian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Chiyi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen