Conical refraction of a high-M2 laser beam

G. S. Sokolovskii; V. Yu. Mylnikov; S. N. Losev; K. A. Fedorova; E. U. Rafailov

doi:10.1117/12.2252461

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20 February 2017 Conical refraction of a high-M² laser beam

G. S. Sokolovskii, V. Yu. Mylnikov, S. N. Losev, K. A. Fedorova, E. U. Rafailov

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Proceedings Volume 10090, Laser Resonators, Microresonators, and Beam Control XIX; 100901R (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2252461
Event: SPIE LASE, 2017, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

We report on experiments with conical refraction of laser beams possessing a high beam propagation parameter M². With beam propagation parameter values M²=3 and M²=5, unusual Lloyd’s distributions with correspondingly three and five dark rings were observed. In order to explain this phenomenon, we extend the dual-cone model of the conical refraction that describes it as a product of interference of two cones that converge and diverge behind the exit facet of the crystal. In the extended model, these converging/diverging cones are represented as the cone-shaped quasi-Gaussian beams possessing the M² parameter of an original beam. In this formalism, a beam-waist of these cone-shaped beams is proportional to the M² value and defines the area of their interference which is a width of the Lloyd’s ring. Therefore, the number of dark rings in the Lloyd distribution is defined by the M² value and can be much greater than unity. The results of the numerical simulations within the extended dual-cone model are in excellent agreement with the experiment.

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G. S. Sokolovskii, V. Yu. Mylnikov, S. N. Losev, K. A. Fedorova, and E. U. Rafailov "Conical refraction of a high-M² laser beam", Proc. SPIE 10090, Laser Resonators, Microresonators, and Beam Control XIX, 100901R (20 February 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2252461

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