Beam propagation properties of radial laser arrays

A detailed study of phase-locked and non-phase-locked radial laser arrays is presented. The closed-form propagation expressions for the beamlets and the resulting beam are given, which enable us to study beam propagation properties of radial laser arrays for both phase-locked and non-phase-locked cases. Numerical calculation examples are given to illustrate the application of our analytical results and the differences between phase-locked and non-phase-locked radial arrays.