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Updated: Aug 8, 2026

The Generation of Higher-order Laguerre-Gauss Optical Beams for High-precision Interferometry
Published on: August 12, 2013
S-shaped non-paraxial corrections to general astigmatic beams
Abstract:
Non-paraxial perturbation wave equations are solved for general astigmatic Gaussian beams for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, in the angular spectrum representation by taking into account generic boundary conditions. Expressions for second-order corrections are derived and exemplified with an optical cavity made of two cylindrical mirrors. Non-paraxial corrections can lead, depending on the choice of boundary conditions, to a transverse S-shaped beam mode, which has been qualitatively been observed in a highly divergent non-planar four-mirror cavity.
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