Multimode laser operation is usually characterized by high output power, yet its beam quality is inferior to that of a laser with single TEM00 mode operation. Here we present an efficient approach for improving the beam quality of multimode laser resonators. The approach is based on splitting the intra-cavity multimode beam into an array of smaller beams, each with a high quality beam distribut...

Relay mirrors offer a method of extending the range and efficacy of laser weapons systems by providing a platform that can relay the high power beam from the source to a target at a lower cost than building more laser weapons. Most laser weapons’ platforms use a Cassegrain aperture telescope to project the high-power beam to a target. Diffraction causes power in the projected beam to move out b...

A method to design lasers that emit an arbitrary beam profile is studied. In these lasers, output-coupling is performed by a diffraction grating that imposes a phase and amplitude distribution onto the diffracted light. A solid-state laser emitting beams with a two-dimensional Airy intensity profile is demonstrated both theoretically and experimentally. In this case, the diffraction grating add...

We propose and experimentally demonstrate the singular surface plasmon beam that presents a dark channel generated by a point dislocation and a long diffraction-free propagation distance up to 70λ(sp). The singular surface beam is the result of the interference of two surface plasmon polariton (SPP) plane waves, which are launched by two coupling gratings with lateral displacement. An aperture-...

An ultra-stable, high-power cw Nd:YAG laser system, developed for the ground-based gravitational wave detector Advanced LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory), was comprehensively characterized. Laser power, frequency, beam pointing and beam quality were simultaneously stabilized using different active and passive schemes. The output beam, the performance of the stabilizatio...

In 2010 a campaign for the reduction and preservation of low vertical emittance at the ESRF electron storage ring was undertaken: values between 20 and 30 pm have been dramatically reduced to 3.5 pm, even during beam delivery. This improvement is the result of an increased measurement precision provided by the recently upgraded beam position monitoring system, a new correction algorithm, a larg...

We review some aspects of radio telescope performance, particularly those relating to the characteristics of the feed system used for illuminating the antenna. We discuss the aperture eeciency, radiation pattern, beam width, and coupling and beam eeciencies, emphasizing the eeect of the aperture illumination on these quantities. The discussion should be useful for understanding calibration of a...

In situ satellite observations of type III burst exciters at 1 AU show that the beam does not evolve into a plateau in velocity space, contrary to the prediction quasilinear theory. The observations can be explained by a theory that includes mode coupling effects due to excitation of the parametric oscillating two-stream instability and its saturation by anomalous resistivity. The time evolutio...

The Stanford Linear Collider was designed to operate with round beams [ 11; horizontal and vertical emittance made equal hi the damping rings. The main motivation was to facilitate the optical matching through beam lines with strong coupling elements like the solenoid spin rotator magnets and the SLC ales. Tests in 1992 showed that ‘flat’ beams with a vertical to horizontal emittance ratio of a...

We present a numerical study of the giant Goos-Hänchen shifts (GHSs) obtained from an Airy beam impinging on a nonlinear interface. To avoid any angular restriction associated with the paraxial approximation, the analysis is based on the nonlinear Helmholtz equation. We report the existence of nonstandard nonlinear GHSs displaying an extreme sensitivity to the input intensity and the existence ...