title: Generalized beam quality factor of aberrated truncated Gaussian laser beams.
abstract: We outline a theory for the calculation of the beam quality factor of an aberrated laser beam. We provide closed-form equations that show that the beam quality factor of an aberrated Gaussian beam depends on all primary aberrations except tilt, defocus, and x-astigmatism. The model is verified experimentally by implementing aberrations as digital holograms in the laboratory.
authors: Council for Scientific and Industrial Research National Laser Centre, P.O. Box 395, Pretoria, South Africa.
authors: Cosmas
authors: C
authors: Mafusire
authors: Andrew
authors: A
authors: Forbes
mesh_terms: D007834:Lasers; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D016011:Normal Distribution