title: Characterization of the constituent wave of a diffracting and a nondiffracting axisymmetric laser beam.
abstract: We show experimentally how diffracting and nondiffracting laser beams can be characterized through their one-dimensional constituent wave. Such a wave stems from an angular decomposition applicable to any cylindrically symmetric laser beam. In our experiment, spatial filtering in a 4-f system is used to generate the constituent wave of each beam under study. Standard one-dimensional root-mean-square (rms) parameters, such as the propagation factor and the generalized Rayleigh range, are then applied to determine the regime of propagation of the beams to characterize.
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rousseau
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gay
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Piché