title: A novel design method for continuous-phase plate.
abstract: A continuous-phase plate (CPP) is a key element for beam smoothing in a high-power laser system. For the beam-smoothing effect, the surface shape of a CPP is one of the most important facts. In this paper, the change law of the transmission direction of light rays has been analyzed according to the geometrical optical principle. It is discovered that the 2-dimensional histogram of a surface gradient can be used to show the far-field distribution of a CPP. Drawing on the experience of histogram modification technology in digital image processing, a novel method is proposed to design a CPP. The design steps of a 1-dimensional CPP are introduced in detail. The far-field distribution and spatial frequency spectrum of this CPP are calculated. The results show that this method is efficient and can reflect the relationship between the surface figure and the far-field distribution of a CPP directly.
authors.affiliation: Chengdu Fine Optical Engineering Research Center, Chengdu 610041, China.
authors.forename: Chunlin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Rongzhu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D007834:Lasers; D007909:Lenses; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation*