Correcting astigmatism and ellipticity in Gaussian beams using a cylindrical lens pair with tunable focal lengths

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Khoubyarian, Soroush, Mashko, Anastasiia, Cooper, Alexandre
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Khoubyarian, Soroush
Mashko, Anastasiia
Cooper, Alexandre
author_facet Khoubyarian, Soroush
Mashko, Anastasiia
Cooper, Alexandre
contents Correcting astigmatism and ellipticity in laser beams is critical for improving performance in many applications like microscopy, atomic physics, quantum information processing, and advanced manufacturing. Passive correction methods based on cylindrical lens telescopes require choosing lenses with precise focal lengths, effectively limiting the range of tunability when using standard catalog optics. Active solutions based on diffractive optical elements can achieve superior performance, but they are bulky, expensive, and suffer from finite diffraction efficiency and added complexity. Here, we introduce a simple method to convert astigmatic elliptical beams into circular Gaussian beams without astigmatism. Our method comprises three cylindrical lenses. The first lens focuses the beam along its major axis to create a plane where the intensity profile is radially symmetric. The second and third lenses are placed one behind the other in that plane at a relative angle, acting as a biaxial lens pair with tunable focal lengths. By adjusting the relative angle of the lenses, the two separate beam waists of the astigmatic beam can be overlapped, resulting in a circular Gaussian beam without astigmatism. We theoretically validate our method, numerically quantify its robustness to experimental imperfections, and experimentally demonstrate its ability to circularize the output beam of a commercial laser source. Our method corrects astigmatism and ellipticity in laser beams without requiring precise focal length matching, offering greater flexibility than other passive solutions and greater cost-effectiveness than active methods. Its simple and compact design makes it well suited for integration into both tabletop optical setups and industrial systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_22308
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Correcting astigmatism and ellipticity in Gaussian beams using a cylindrical lens pair with tunable focal lengths
Khoubyarian, Soroush
Mashko, Anastasiia
Cooper, Alexandre
Optics
Quantum Gases
Atomic Physics
Quantum Physics
Correcting astigmatism and ellipticity in laser beams is critical for improving performance in many applications like microscopy, atomic physics, quantum information processing, and advanced manufacturing. Passive correction methods based on cylindrical lens telescopes require choosing lenses with precise focal lengths, effectively limiting the range of tunability when using standard catalog optics. Active solutions based on diffractive optical elements can achieve superior performance, but they are bulky, expensive, and suffer from finite diffraction efficiency and added complexity. Here, we introduce a simple method to convert astigmatic elliptical beams into circular Gaussian beams without astigmatism. Our method comprises three cylindrical lenses. The first lens focuses the beam along its major axis to create a plane where the intensity profile is radially symmetric. The second and third lenses are placed one behind the other in that plane at a relative angle, acting as a biaxial lens pair with tunable focal lengths. By adjusting the relative angle of the lenses, the two separate beam waists of the astigmatic beam can be overlapped, resulting in a circular Gaussian beam without astigmatism. We theoretically validate our method, numerically quantify its robustness to experimental imperfections, and experimentally demonstrate its ability to circularize the output beam of a commercial laser source. Our method corrects astigmatism and ellipticity in laser beams without requiring precise focal length matching, offering greater flexibility than other passive solutions and greater cost-effectiveness than active methods. Its simple and compact design makes it well suited for integration into both tabletop optical setups and industrial systems.
title Correcting astigmatism and ellipticity in Gaussian beams using a cylindrical lens pair with tunable focal lengths
topic Optics
Quantum Gases
Atomic Physics
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.22308