Intensity mapping optical aberrations

Intensity mapping aberrations for high average power laser beams are examined from the point of view of diffraction theory. For the Fresnel ripple aberrations, it was determined that indeed they behave like a circular diffraction grating where energy is diffracted into the far wings of the far-field intensity distribution without significantly affecting the width of the central diffraction lobe, only its energy. It was further established that the effect of such aberrations on the far field may well be characterized by techniques where the aberration is randomized, and on-axis intensities are obtained through approximate methods.