Figures of merit for laser beam quality

Abstract

It was shown how full-width at half maximum (FWHM), full-width at 1/e(sup 2) (FW1/e(sup 2)), Strehl ratio, and encircled energy figures of merit vary with different types of aberration and measurement methods. The array sampling method and the slit-scan method are examined in detail. Our irradiance in the exit pupil of the optical system is a simple gaussian. It was found that in general the slit-scan method and the array method do not yield the same result. The width measurements for the central lobe of the diffraction pattern are very insensitive to aberration.