| Abstract: | Radially and azimuthally polarized beams have attracted much attention in<br />recent<br />years due to their unique polarization properties, among which are sharper<br />focus<br />and higher efficiency in cutting and drilling. The talk will focus on the use<br />of<br />radially polarized beams to bypass thermally induced aberrations in laser<br />systems. High power lasers in rod configuration will be introduced - basic<br />design considerations and thermal issues. Among the strongest thermal<br />aberration is the birefringence induced bifocal lensing, which the use of<br />radially and azimuthally polarized beams helps eliminate.<br /><br />Due to the space-variant nature of radially polarized beams, the polarization<br />status of such beams is sensitive to wavefront aberrations, unlike linear or<br />circular polarizations. The effects of azimuthal aberrations, stress-map<br />deviations and pump edge effects on radial polarization are analyzed,<br />theoretically and experiment ... |
