title: Conical diffraction intensity profiles generated using a top-hat input beam.
abstract: The phenomenon of internal conical diffraction has been studied extensively for the case of laser beams with Gaussian intensity profiles incident along an optic axis of a biaxial material. This work presents experimental images for a top-hat input beam and offers a theoretical model which successfully describes the conically diffracted intensity profile, which is observed to differ qualitatively from the Gaussian case. The far-field evolution of the beam is predicted to be particularly interesting with a very intricate structure, and this is confirmed experimentally.
authors.forename: R T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Darcy
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: McCloskey
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Ballantine
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Lunney
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Eastham
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Donegan