Research Article Vol. 31, No.

24 / 20 Nov 2023 / Optics Express 39379

Effect of aberrations on the beam quality factor

of Hermite-Gauss beams
N OKWAZI M PHUTHI , T EBOHO B ELL , AND C HEMIST M. M ABENA *
CSIR Photonics Centre, Meiring Naudé Road, Pretoria, South Africa
* cmabena@csir.co.za

Abstract: The effect of aberrations on the beam quality factor (M 2 ) of Hermite-Gauss (HG)
beams is examined. Using the method of moments, we derive closed-form analytical expressions
of M 2 due to astigmatism and spherical aberration. Our analysis reveals that the radius of the
HG beams plays a significant role in determining the effect of the aberrations on M 2 . For each
aberration, we establish a critical width that separates the region where M 2 changes infinitesimally
from the region where it changes sharply. The analytical results are validated through numerical
simulations.

© 2023 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement

1. Introduction
The beam quality factor is a useful parameter for assessing the quality of a laser beam. It gives
information about the propagation dynamics of a laser beam such as how much it will diverge
upon propagation [1–3]. It is invariant in media with linear and quadratic transfer functions, as
well as in ideal optical systems. However, physical optical elements or systems are not always free
from aberrations, which can be caused by various factors such as variations in propagation media,
fabrication errors and general imperfections of optical elements. Aberrations can be described
mathematically by a complex transfer function that perturbs the wavefront of a laser beam. The
effect of aberrations on laser beams has been extensively studied, resulting in a substantial body
of knowledge [2,4–13].
In recent years, significant advancements have been made in the generation of structured light,
which refers to light with tailored spatial properties such as amplitude, phase, and polarization.
Structured light, such as Hermite-Gauss (HG) beams, hold promise for various applications,
including nonlinear optics [14], electron acceleration [15–17], atom trapping [18–20] and
free-space optical communications [21–29]. The beam quality of Hermite-Gauss beams has been
studied both in free space and through atmospheric turbulence [30–33]. While turbulence has
been shown to have a detrimental effect on the beam quality of Hermite-Gaussian beams, however,
to date, to the best of our knowledge, the effect of individual aberrations on the beam quality
factor of Hermite-Gauss beams has not been studied. These beams can be generated intra-cavity
through specially designed lasers [34–41] and extra-cavity using phase-shifting diffractive optical
elements [42–49].
Astigmatism and spherical aberration are two of the most common types of aberrations that
occur in optical elements. Furthermore, these aberrations have been shown to have detrimental
effects in applications where Hermite-Gauss beams are used. In optical trapping, for example,
spherical aberration has been shown to decrease the trap stiffness in oil immersion objectives
[50]. Astigmatism, on the other hand, has been shown to be the main effect for transverse
stiffness degradation in optical traps [51]. In electron acceleration, it was demonstrated how
laser inhomogeneities and phase defects can lead to lower electron charges and energies, thereby
severely decreasing the number of emitted photons [52]. In order to inform the design and
development of laser systems where astigmatism and spherical aberration occur, it is useful and
important to quantify the amount of degradation that these aberrations can cause.

#502925 https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.502925
Journal © 2023 Received 8 Aug 2023; revised 13 Oct 2023; accepted 13 Oct 2023; published 6 Nov 2023
 Research Article Vol. 31, No. 24 / 20 Nov 2023 / Optics Express 39380

In this work, therefore, and to the best of our knowledge, for the first time, we derive closed-form
analytical expressions of the beam quality factor of Hermite-Gauss beams due to the individual
aberrations mentioned above. Our approach uses the generating function for the Hermite-Gauss
beams [53,54] and is based on the method of moments [7]. Through these expressions, we are
able to quantitatively assess how these aberrations impact the beam quality factor. A key finding
of our analysis is the pivotal role of the radius of the Hermite-Gauss beams in determining
the effect of each aberration on the beam quality factor. To this extent, we establish a critical
width that serves as a boundary, distinguishing between regions where the beam quality factor
changes infinitesimally and regions where it undergoes drastic and sharp changes for each
aberration. Furthermore, we note an important difference between the behavior of Hermite-Gauss
beams in comparison to Laguerre-Gauss beams [10]. In the case of Laguerre-Gauss beams, the
critical width is independent of direction and thus is the same along the x and y directions. For
Hermite-Gauss beams, however, we found that in determining the critical width, the x direction
behaves differently from the y direction. Therefore, to determine the beam size where the laser
beam is unaffected by a particular aberration, at a particular aberration strength, it is important
to consider the minimum of the two critical widths. To validate the accuracy of our derived
analytical expressions, we complement our theoretical work with numerical simulations. This
work provides a tool for conveniently performing parametric studies and obtaining quantitative
results expeditiously in cases where the beam quality factor is of concern.

2. Method of moments
The electric field of a laser beam can be expressed as follows [55],
2π
φ(x,y)
E(x, y) = u(x, y)e−i λ , (1)

where u(x, y) represents the amplitude distribution of the laser beam, and ϕ(x, y) denotes the
phase of the beam. In this work, the phase term, ϕ(x, y), specifically accounts for the aberrations
present in an optical system. The aberrations considered here are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Algebraic expressions for some

primary aberrations.
Description Algebraic Expression
(︂ )︂
0◦ astigmatism Dast0 x2 − y2
45◦ astigmatism Dast45 xy
(︂ )︂
x−triangular astigmatism Dxtri x3 − 3xy2
(︂ )︂
y−triangular astigmatism Dytri 3x2 y − y3
Spherical aberration Dsp (x2 + y2 )2

It is common practice in experiments to determine the beam quality factor along, x and y,
independently. Therefore, here, we also calculate the beam quality factor separately in the x and
y directions using the following expressions [7],
√︂
Mx = 4π ⟨x2 ⟩⟨θ x2 ⟩ − ⟨xθ x ⟩ 2 ,
2
(2)

and √︂
My2 = 4π ⟨y2 ⟩⟨θ y2 ⟩ − ⟨yθ y ⟩ 2 . (3)

Here, ⟨x2 ⟩ and ⟨y2 ⟩ represent the second-order spatial moments along the x and y directions,
respectively. Similarly, ⟨θ x2 ⟩ and ⟨θ y2 ⟩ denotes the second-order angular moments in each direction.
 Research Article Vol. 31, No. 24 / 20 Nov 2023 / Optics Express 39381

Lastly, ⟨xθ x ⟩ and ⟨yθ y ⟩ represent the first spatial-angular moments. The calculations for these
terms are given by the following equations,
∫ ∞∫ ∞
⟨x2 ⟩ = x2 u2 (x, y) dxdy, (4)
−∞ −∞
∫ ∞∫ ∞
⟨y2 ⟩ = y2 u2 (x, y) dxdy, (5)
−∞ −∞
[︄ (︃ )︃ 2 ]︄
)︃ 2
∞∫ ∞
∂u ∂ϕ
∫ (︃
1
⟨θ x2 ⟩ = 2 + u dxdy
4π −∞ −∞ ∂x ∂x
)︃ 2 (6)
∂ϕ
(︃∫ ∞ ∫ ∞
1
− 2 u2 dxdy ,
4π −∞ −∞ ∂x
∫ ∞ ∫ ∞ [︄ (︃ )︃ 2 (︃ )︃ 2 ]︄
1 ∂u ∂ϕ
⟨θ y ⟩ = 2
2
+ u dxdy
4π −∞ −∞ ∂y ∂y
)︃ 2 (7)
2 ∂ϕ
(︃∫ ∞ ∫ ∞
1
− 2 u dxdy ,
4π −∞ −∞ ∂y
∂ϕ
∫ ∞∫ ∞
1
⟨xθ x ⟩ = u2 x dxdy, (8)
2π −∞ −∞ ∂x
∂ϕ
∫ ∞∫ ∞
1
⟨yθ y ⟩ = u2 y dxdy. (9)
2π −∞ −∞ ∂y

3. Aberrated Hermite-Gauss beams

Hermite-Gauss beams are solutions of the paraxial wave equation in Cartesian coordinates and
have a complex amplitude that is given as follows [55],
(︄ √ )︄ (︄ √ )︄
ω0 x + y2
(︃ 2 )︃
2x 2y
H (x, y, z) = E0 Hn Hm exp − 2
ω (z) ω (z) ω (z) ω (z)
(︄ ]︁ )︄ (10)
π x +y
[︁ 2 2 (︃ )︃
2πz
× exp −i exp (iψ (z)) exp −i ,
λR (z) λ

where E0 is a normalization constant, ω0 is the beam radius at the waist, Hn (·) and Hm (·)
represent the Hermite polynomials of order n and m, respectively. The beam radius at some
arbitrary axial position z is given as,
√︄
(︃ )︃ 2
z
ω (z) = ω0 1 + , (11)
zR

the radius of curvature is expressed as,

[︄ (︃ )︃ 2 ]︄
zR
R (z) = z 1 + . (12)
z

The Gouy phase is given as,

)︃ (︃
z
ψ (z) = (n + m + 1) arctan , (13)
zR
 Research Article Vol. 31, No. 24 / 20 Nov 2023 / Optics Express 39382

and,
1 πω0 2
zR = , (14)
(m + n + 1) λ
is the Rayleigh range. At the waist, the Hermite-Gauss beam expression can be expressed in
terms of a generating function [53,54] as follows,
[︄ √ √ ]︄
2 2xµ 2 2yη (︂ 2 )︂
H = exp + − µ +η 2
ω0 ω0
[︄ (︁ )︁ ]︄ (15)
x2 + y2
× exp − ,
ω02

where µ and η are the generating parameters for the Hermite polynomials along x and y,
respectively. A specific Hermite-Gauss beam is obtained by the following operation,

∂ ∂
[︃ m n ]︃
HGn,m = NHG H , (16)
∂ηm ∂ µn µ,η=0

where, √︃
1 1
NHG = . (17)
π2n+m−1 n!m! ω0
Examples of the intensity profiles of selected Hermite-Gauss beams, at the waist, with their
respective phases are shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. Intensity profiles of selected Hermite-Gauss beams with indices n = 0, 1, 2, 3 and

m = 0, 1, 2 at the waist plane. The insets represent the phase of the beams.
 Research Article Vol. 31, No. 24 / 20 Nov 2023 / Optics Express 39383

Upon using the generating function for the Hermite-Gauss beams and substituting into Eq. (4),
the second-order spatial moment along the x direction is calculated as follows,
√
2 2 [(µ1 + µ2 ) x + y (η1 + η2 )]
∫ −∞ ∫ −∞
⟨x ⟩µ,η = NHG
2 2 2
x exp{ }
ω0
[︁ ∞ 2 ∞2
−η1 − η2 − µ21 − µ22 ω02 − 2 x2 + y2
]︁ [︁ ]︁
× exp{ }dxdy (18)
ω02
2 ω4 π 2 (µ + µ )2 + 1 exp {2 [µ µ + η η ]}
[︁ ]︁
NHG 0 1 2 1 2 1 2
= ,
8
where µ1 , η1 are the generating parameters for the complex electric field and µ2 , η2 are the
generating parameters for its complex conjugate. Using the same approach, the results for the
second-order spatial moments along the y after substituting into Eq. (5) becomes,
2 ω4 π exp (2 [µ µ + η η ])
NHG 0 1 2 1 2
⟨y2 ⟩µ,η =
8 (19)
× 2 (η1 + η2 ) + 1 .
2
[︁ ]︁

For convenience, we break down the expression of the second-order angular moments [Eq. (7),
Eq. (8)] expression into three parts. Here, we show the breakdown only for Eq. (7),
)︃ 2
∞∫ ∞
∂u
∫ (︃
1
θ 1,x = 2 dxdy, (20)
4π −∞ −∞ ∂x
)︃ 2
∞∫ ∞
∂ϕ
∫ (︃
1
θ 2,x = 2 u dxdy, (21)
4π −∞ −∞ ∂x
∞∫ ∞
∂ϕ
∫
1
θ 3,x = u2 dxdy, (22)
2π −∞ −∞ ∂x
where the last term is the square root of the second term in Eq. (7). That is, the x second-order
angular moment expression can be rewritten as follows,

⟨θ x2 ⟩ = θ 1,x + θ 2,x − θ 3,x

2
, (23)

and the y second-order angular moment expression can be rewritten, in the same way, as follows,

⟨θ y2 ⟩ = θ 1,y + θ 2,y − θ 3,y

2
. (24)

The terms that do not depend on the phase aberration, Eq. (20) and its y variant, are given
below in terms of the generating parameters, as follows,
2 exp (2 [µ µ + η η ])
NHG 1 2 1 2
θ 1,x =
8π (25)
× 2 (µ1 − µ2 ) − 1 , 2
[︁ ]︁

and,
2 exp (2 [µ µ + η η ])
NHG 1 2 1 2
θ 1,y =
8π (26)
× 2 (η1 − η2 ) − 1 .
2
[︁ ]︁
 Research Article Vol. 31, No. 24 / 20 Nov 2023 / Optics Express 39384

3.1. Beam quality factor of aberrated Hermite-Gauss beams

3.1.1. 45◦ astigmatism
Using the expression for 45◦ astigmatism in Table 1, we obtain the aberration-dependent terms
below. First, we generate the expressions for the second-order angular moment, Eq. (21) and
Eq. (22), for both x and y,
2 ω4 π exp (2 [µ µ + η η ])
D2ast45 NHG 0 1 2 1 2
θ 2,x
ast45
=
8λ2 (27)
× 2 (η1 + η2 ) + 1 , 2
[︁ ]︁

and,
2 ω4 π exp (2 [µ µ + η η ])
D2ast45 NHG 0 1 2 1 2
θ 2,y
ast45
=
8λ2 (28)
× 2 (µ1 + µ2 ) + 1 , 2
[︁ ]︁

and
2 ω3 π exp (2 [µ µ + η η ])
Dast45 NHG 0 1 2 1 2
θ 3,x
ast45
= √
2 2λ (29)
× [η1 + η2 ] ,
and
2 ω3 π exp (2 [µ µ + η η ])
Dast45 NHG 0 1 2 1 2
θ 3,y
ast45
= √
2 2λ (30)
× [µ1 + µ2 ] .
The first-order spatial-angular momentum, in the x direction, is given as follows,
2 ω4 π exp (2 [µ µ + η η ])
Dast45 NHG 0 1 2 1 2
⟨xθ x ⟩ ast45 =
4λ (31)
× [η1 + η2 ] [µ1 + µ2 ] .

The first-order spatial-angular momentum, in the y direction, works out to be the same
expression as for the x direction,

⟨yθ y ⟩ ast45 = ⟨xθ x ⟩ ast45 . (32)

The value of Mx4 for a particular Hermite-Gauss beam can be obtained by the following
operation,

⎛ ∂ m ∂ m ∂ n ∂ θ 1,x
n ast45
[︄ ]︄ [︄ ]︄
⎨ ∂ m ∂ m ∂ n ∂ n ⟨x2 ⟩µ,η
⎧
⎪
= 16π
⎪
Mx4 2
⎪ ∂η1m ∂η2m ∂ µn1 ∂ µn2 ∂η1m ∂η2m ∂ µn1 ∂ µn2
⎜
⎪
⎩ η ,η ,µ
1 2 1 2 ,µ =0 ⎝ η1 ,η2 ,µ1 ,µ2 =0
2
∂ m ∂ m ∂ n ∂ θ 2,x ∂ m ∂ m ∂ n ∂ θ 3,x
n ast45 n ast45
[︄ ]︄ [︄ ]︄
+ −
⎞
∂η1m ∂η2m ∂ µn1 ∂ µn2 ∂η1m ∂η2m ∂ µn1 ∂ µn2
⎟
η1 ,η2 ,µ1 ,µ2 =0 η1 ,η2 ,µ1 ,µ2 =0 ⎠
]︃ 2 }︄
∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ ⟨xθ x ⟩ ast45
[︃ m m n n
− .
∂η1m ∂η2m ∂ µn1 ∂ µn2 η1 ,η2 ,µ1 ,µ2 =0
(33)
Substitution of relevant expressions into Eq. (33) above, and performing some long calculations,
the final general expression for the beam quality factor of Hermite-Gauss beams aberrated with
 Research Article Vol. 31, No. 24 / 20 Nov 2023 / Optics Express 39385

45◦ astigmatism becomes,

π 2 D2ast45 ω04
[︄
Mx4 = (2n + 1) (2m + 1)
λ2 (34)
+ (2n + 1)] .
Using the same approach as above, My4 for a particular Hermite-Gauss beam is given as,

⎛ ∂ m ∂ m ∂ n ∂ θ 1,y
n ast45
[︄ ]︄ [︄ ]︄
⎨ ∂ m ∂ m ∂ n ∂ n ⟨y2 ⟩µ,η
⎧
⎪
My = 16π
4 2
⎪
⎪ ∂η1 ∂η2 ∂ µ1 ∂ µ2 ∂η1m ∂η2m ∂ µn1 ∂ µn2
⎪ m m n n ⎜
⎩ η1 ,η 2 ,µ 1 ,µ2 =0 ⎝ η1 ,η2 ,µ1 ,µ2 =0
]︄ 2
∂ m ∂ m ∂ n ∂ θ 2,y ∂ m ∂ m ∂ n ∂ θ 3,y
n ast45 n ast45
[︄ ]︄ [︄
+ −
⎞
∂η1m ∂η2m ∂ µn1 ∂ µn2 ∂η1m ∂η2m ∂ µn1 ∂ µn2
⎟
η1 ,η2 ,µ1 ,µ2 =0 η1 ,η2 ,µ1 ,µ2 =0 ⎠
[︄ ]︄ 2
∂ m ∂ m ∂ n ∂ n ⟨yθ y ⟩ ast45
⎫
⎪
⎬
⎪
− ,
∂η1 ∂η2 ∂ µ1
m m n ∂ µ2n ⎪
η1 ,η2 ,µ1 ,µ2 =0 ⎪ ⎭
(35)
and the general result becomes,
π 2 D2ast45 ω04
[︄
My = (2m + 1)
4
(2n + 1)
λ2 (36)
+ (2m + 1)] .
Figure 2 shows the beam quality factor of selected Hermite-Gauss beams that are aberrated
with 45◦ astigmatism as a function of beam radius. The aberration strength is represented by
the coefficient of the aberration. The solid lines represent the beam quality factor due to an
astigmatism coefficient of 0.1 cm−1 and the dashed lines represent an astigmatism coefficient of
10 cm−1 . The beam quality factor along the x, Mx2 , is shown in Fig. 2(a), and the beam quality
factor along the y, My2 , is shown in Fig. 2(b). The general trend is the same in both cases. That is,
the beam quality factor is minimally affected by astigmatism up until a certain beam radius is
reached. For values of the beam radius that are much larger than the said radius, the beam quality
factor starts changing sharply. The radius that separates the region where the beam quality factor
is shown to vary infinitesimally and the region where it changes sharply is called the critical
width. The expressions for the critical width is determined by rewriting Eq. (34) as follows,
π 2 D2ast45 ω04 (2m + 1)
[︄ ]︄
Mx = (2n + 1)
4 2
+1 . (37)
λ2 (2n + 1)

We then define the critical width as the beam radius where Mx4 is twice its unaberrated value.
Working this out gives the following result for the critical width along the x,
[︄ ]︄ 41
λ2 (2n + 1)
ωc,x = 2 2 . (38)
π Dast45 (2m + 1)
Similarly, for the beam radius along the y, we obtain,
[︄ ]︄ 14
λ2 (2m + 1)
ωc,y = 2 2 . (39)
π Dast45 (2n + 1)
As can be seen, the critical width is a function of the wavelength, aberration strength, and
Hermite-Gauss beam indices n, m. When n = m, the critical width along x and y is the same.
 Research Article Vol. 31, No. 24 / 20 Nov 2023 / Optics Express 39386

Fig. 2. Beam quality factor due to 45◦ astigmatism as a function of beam radius along the x
and y direction for various HGnm beams. The solid lines illustrate an astigmatism coefficient
of 0.1 cm−1 while dotted lines illustrate an astigmatism coefficient of 10 cm−1 .

However, for other combinations of indices, the two critical widths are not necessarily the
same. As an example, it can be seen, in Fig. 2, that for the Hermite-Gauss beam with indices
n = 0, m = 1, My2 deviates before Mx2 . For the Hermite-Gauss beam with indices n = 1, m = 0, the
opposite is true. From Eq. (38) and Eq. (39), it is easy to see that the ratio of the aberration-free
beam quality factors along the x and y directions determines the critical width. The effect of the
aberration strength is to shift the critical width for all the beams. Visual inspection of Fig. 2
shows that changing the aberration strength translates all the Hermite-Gauss beams to a different
region along the x−axis. The overall behavior for all the Hermite-Gauss beams, however, remains
unchanged.
The beam quality factor for radius values that are significantly larger than the critical width,
ωc ≪ ω0 , changes sharply. In this region, Eq. (34) and Eq. (36) simplify to the following
expressions,
πω02 Dast45 √︁
2
Mx,y = (2n + 1) (2m + 1). (40)
λ
This shows that the beam quality factors along x and y for a particular Hermite-Gauss beam
are the same in this region. Furthermore, since Fig. 2 is a log-log plot, Eq. (40) appears as a
linear relationship between the beam quality factor and the beam width. The slope of the line is
given by the exponent of the beam radius. A linear plot of the beam quality factor in this region
would be a quadratic function of the beam radius.

3.1.2. Triangular astigmatism

A similar approach to that used for 45◦ astigmatism is used for triangular astigmatism. The
aberration-dependent terms of the second-order angular moment are calculated below using the
expression for x−triangular astigmatism in Table 1,
2 ω6 π exp (2 [µ µ + η η ])
9D2trix NHG 0 1 2 1 2
θ 2,x
trix
=− 2
8λ
× (µ1 + µ2 )2 + (η1 + η2 )2 + 1
[︁
(41)
+2η1 µ1 + 2η1 µ2 + 2η2 µ1 + 2η2 µ2 ]
× (µ1 + µ2 )2 + (η1 + η2 )2 + 1
[︁

− (2η1 µ1 + 2η1 µ2 + 2η2 µ1 + 2η2 µ2 )] ,

 Research Article Vol. 31, No. 24 / 20 Nov 2023 / Optics Express 39387

and
2 ω6 π exp (2 [µ µ + η η ])
9D2trix NHG 0 1 2 1 2
θ 2,y
trix
=− 2
8λ (42)
× 2 (µ1 + µ2 )2 + 1 2 (η1 + η2 )2 + 1 ,
[︁ ]︁ [︁ ]︁

and
2 ω4 π exp (2 [µ µ + η η ])
3Dtrix NHG 0 1 2 1 2
θ 3,x
trix
=−
4λ (43)
× [µ1 + η1 + µ2 + η2 ] [µ1 − η1 + µ2 − η2 ] ,
and
2 ω4 π exp (2 [µ µ + η η ])
3Dtrix NHG 0 1 2 1 2
θ 3,y
trix
=
2λ (44)
× [µ1 + µ2 ] [η1 + η2 ] .
The first-order angular-spatial moment, for both directions, is given as follows,
2 ω5 π exp (2 [µ µ + η η ])
3Dtrix NHG 0 1 2 1 2
⟨xθ x ⟩ trix = − √
4 2λ
(45)
× (µ1 + µ2 ) − (η1 + η2 )2 + 1
2
[︁ ]︁

× [µ1 + µ2 ] ,

and
2 ω5 π exp (2 [µ µ + η η ])
3Dtrix NHG 0 1 2 1 2
⟨yθ y ⟩ trix = √
4 2λ (46)
× 2 (η1 + η2 )2 + 1 [µ1 + µ2 ] .
[︁ ]︁

Substitution of the above expressions, together with the expression for the second-order
spatial moment into Eq. (2) and Eq. (3), the final expressions for the beam quality factor of
Hermite-Gauss beams aberrated with x−triangular astigmatism become,

9π 2 D2trix ω06
[︄
Mx = (2n + 1)
4
2λ2
(︂ )︂ (47)
× n2 + m2 + n + m + 2
+ (2n + 1)] ,

and
9π 2 D2trix ω06
[︄ ]︄
My4 = (2m + 1)2 (2n + 1) + 1 . (48)
λ2
The beam quality factor for Hermite-Gauss beams that are aberrated with y−triangular
astigmatism has a form similar to that of x−triangular astigmatism, except that the results for Mx4
and My4 are swapped around, with the appropriate replacements of n and m. Therefore, we do
not give the explicit expressions for the y−triangular astigmatism because they can be simply
obtained from the above results.
Figure 3 shows the beam quality factor of selected Hermite-Gauss beams that are aberrated
with x-triangular astigmatism as a function of beam radius. The solid lines represent the beam
 Research Article Vol. 31, No. 24 / 20 Nov 2023 / Optics Express 39388

quality factor due to a coefficient of 0.1 cm−2 and the dashed lines represent an aberration
coefficient of 10 cm−2 . The critical widths are given below as follows,
[︄√︃ ]︄ 13
2 (2n + 1) λ
ωc,x = , (49)
9 πDtrix Πx

and,
[︄√︄ ]︄ 13
1 λ
ωc,y = , (50)
9 (2n + 1) πDtrix
where,
Πx2 = n2 + m2 + n + m + 2. (51)

Fig. 3. Beam quality factor due to x-triangular astigmatism as a function of beam radius
along the x and y direction for various HGnm modes. The solid lines illustrate an aberration
coefficient of 0.1 cm−2 while dotted lines illustrate a strength of 10 cm−2 .

Here, unlike the case for 45◦ astigmatism, the expressions do not have any symmetry. This
implies that the relationship between the two critical widths is not as simple. While in the case of
45◦ astigmatism, the two widths were the same for Hermite-Gauss beams with indices that are
equal, n = m, this is not necessarily true for x−triangular astigmatism. However, the role of the
aberration strength is still the same. The aberration strength translates the plots to a different
region along the x−axis. It does not change the general behavior of the different Hermite-Gauss
beams. Here, we also find that the beam quality factor, for beam radii that are significantly larger
than the critical width, is not the same for x and y, rather the beam quality factor reduces to the
following expressions,
9 (2n + 1) πω0 Dtrix Πx
3
√︃
Mx =
2
, (52)
2 λ
and,
9 (2n + 1)πω03 Dtrix (2m + 1)
√︁
My =
2
. (53)
λ
3.1.3. Spherical aberration
The effect of spherical aberration, here, is evaluated by considering a quartic phase. The
expression for the quartic phase is shown in Table 1. The generating expressions for the
aberration-dependent terms are very complicated and we do not give them here. However, it is
 Research Article Vol. 31, No. 24 / 20 Nov 2023 / Optics Express 39389

not a complicated task to generate them by following the same approach as above for the different
types of astigmatism. The final expressions for the beam quality factor when the Hermite-Gauss
beam is aberrated with a quartic phase are given as follows,

2π 2 D2sp ω08 [︁
Mx4 = 2n4 + 4n3
(︂ λ2 )︂
+ 4m2 + 4m + 21 n2
(54)
(︂ )︂
+ 4m2 + 4m + 23 n
(︂ )︂]︂
+ m2 + m + 4
+ (2n + 1)2 ,

2π 2 D2sp ω08 [︁
My4 = 2m4 + 4m3
(︂ λ2 )︂
+ 4n2 + 4n + 23 m2
(55)
(︂ )︂
+ 4n2 + 4n + 21 m
(︂ )︂]︂
+ n2 + n + 4
+ (2m + 1)2 .
Figure 4 shows the beam quality factor of selected Hermite-Gauss beams with spherical
aberration as a function of beam radius. The solid lines represent the beam quality factor due to
an aberration coefficient of 0.1 cm−3 and the dashed lines represent an aberration coefficient of
10 cm−3 . The critical width for the spherical aberration is given below as,
[︄ ]︄ 41
λ (2n + 1)
ωc,x = √ , (56)
2πDsp Λx

and
[︄ ]︄ 41
λ (2m + 1)
ωc,y = √ , (57)
2πDsp Λy
where,
Λ2x = 2n4 + 4n3 + (4m2 + 4m + 21)n2
(58)
+ (4m2 + 4m + 23)n + m2 + m + 4,
and
Λ2y = 2m4 + 4m3 + (4n2 + 4n + 21)m2
(59)
+ (4n2 + 4n + 23)m + n2 + n + 4.
The expression for the beam quality factor in the region of drastic growth is given as,
√
2πω04 Dsp Λx
Mx2 = , (60)
λ
and √
2πω04 Dsp Λy
My2 = . (61)
λ
 Research Article Vol. 31, No. 24 / 20 Nov 2023 / Optics Express 39390

Fig. 4. Beam quality factor due to spherical aberration as a function of beam radius along
the x and y direction for various HGnm beams. The solid lines illustrate an aberration
coefficient of 0.1cm−3 while the dashed lines illustrate an aberration coefficient of 10cm−3 .

A linear plot of Eq. (60) and Eq. (61) would give a quartic relationship between the beam
quality factor and the beam radius. However, Fig. 4 is a loglog plot, therefore, the relationship
between Mx,y 2 and ω in this region is linear, with the slope of the line given by the exponent of
0
the ω0 in Eq. (60) and Eq. (61). From visual inspection, it can be seen that the slope of the lines
in Fig. 4 is steeper than that of the lines in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, as is expected based on the exponents
of ω0 in the respective equations for Mx2 [ Eq. (40), Eq. (52), Eq. (60) ], for instance.

4. Numerical simulations
4.1. Numerical method
The beam propagation simulation in this study utilizes the angular spectrum method, a widely
used technique for analyzing the propagation behavior of optical beams. The simulation process
involves several steps, beginning with the computation of the Fourier transform of the input
function, which is represented by the equation,
∫ ∫
F(a, b) = u(x, y) exp (−2πi [ax + by]) dxdy. (62)

Here, u(x, y) represents the input function that characterizes the optical field. The variables a
and b correspond to the spatial frequency components in the Fourier domain.
Next, the angular spectrum obtained from the Fourier transform is multiplied by the propagation
phase factor given by, (︄ )︄
√︃
1
Φ(a, b) = exp −2πiz a2 − b2 − 2 . (63)
λ
In this equation, z represents the propagation distance, and λ denotes the wavelength of the
light. To obtain the optical field at a specific position along the propagation axis (z), an inverse
Fourier transform is performed on the product of the angular spectrum and the Fourier transform,
∫ ∫
u(x, y, z) = F(a, b)Φ(a, b) exp (2πi [ax + by]) dadb. (64)

To assess the quality factor of the beam, the method proposed by Siegman [1] is employed.
This approach measures the radius of the beam along the propagation axis and compares the
 Research Article Vol. 31, No. 24 / 20 Nov 2023 / Optics Express 39391

results with a quadratic equation. The equation used for comparison is given as follows,
)︃ 2 )︃ 2 )︃ 2
M2 λ M2 λ M2 λ
(︃ (︃ (︃
ω2 (z) = z2 − 2z0 z+ z20 + ω02 . (65)
πω0 πω0 πω0

Here, ω2 (z) represents the beam radius squared at a specific position z along the propagation
axis. The parameters M 2 , ω0 , z0 , and λ correspond to the beam quality factor, beam waist radius,
beam waist position, and wavelength, respectively. The data obtained from the simulations is
then fitted with a quadratic polynomial of the form,

Y = Az2 + Bz + C. (66)

Finally, the beam quality factor (M 2 ) is calculated using the formula,

√︃
π B2
M = 2
AC − , (67)
λ 4
where, A, B, and C can be obtained by comparing Eq. (65) and Eq. (66).

4.2. Numerical validation

The analytical expressions derived in Sec. 3 are validated in this section using the numerical
method of Sec 4. All the results are generated using λ = 680nm, two beam radii 1cm and 3cm.
The solid lines represent the beam quality as per analytical expression in Sec. 3 and the discrete
markers represent the beam quality obtained through numerical simulation. For validation, we
only consider the beam quality factor along the x direction.
Figure 5 shows the beam quality factor of selected Hermite-Gauss (HG) optical beams which
are aberrated with 45◦ astigmatism. There is excellent agreement between the analytical and
numerical results for both beam radii. In Fig. 5(a), the change in the beam quality factor is not
sharp. However, the situation is different in Fig. 5(b). The change in the beam quality factor
with increasing astigmatism strength is steep. For instance, the beam quality factor for the
Hermite-Gauss mode with indices n = 1, m = 0 starts at M 2 = 1 when there is no astigmatism and

Fig. 5. The graph depicts how the beam quality factor changes with 45◦ astigmatism for
different HG beams. The plots show the results for selected HG beams with (a) a beam waist
of 1 cm and (b) a beam waist of 3 cm. The solid lines illustrate the predicted beam quality
factor using analytical methods, while the discrete markers indicate the results obtained from
numerical simulations.
 Research Article Vol. 31, No. 24 / 20 Nov 2023 / Optics Express 39392

Fig. 6. The graph depicts how the beam quality factor changes with x-triangular astigmatism
for different HG beams. The plots show the results for selected HG beams with (a) a
beam waist of 1 cm and (b) a beam waist of 3 cm. The solid lines illustrate the predicted
beam quality factor using analytical methods, while the discrete markers indicate the results
obtained from numerical simulations.

Fig. 7. The graph depicts how the beam quality factor changes with spherical aberration for
different HG beams. The plots show the results for selected HG beams with (a) a beam waist
of 1 cm and (b) a beam waist of 3 cm. The solid lines illustrate the predicted beam quality
factor using analytical methods, while the discrete markers indicate the results obtained from
numerical simulations.

becomes just below 40 when the astigmatism strength is Dast = 5cm−1 . The increase in the beam
quality factor is seen to be proportional to the un-aberrated beam quality factor. The most drastic
increase at Dast = 5cm−1 corresponds to the Hermite-Gauss beam with indices n = 3, m = 2.
Figure 6 illustrates the beam quality factor due to x-triangular astigmatism for various
Hermite-Gauss beams. In Fig. 6(a), we observe the impact of x-triangular astigmatism when
the Hermite-Gauss beams have a beam radius of 1 cm. In Fig. 6(a), we observe the impact of
x-triangular astigmatism when the Hermite-Gauss beams have a beam radius of 3 cm. Apart
from some differences, particularly quantitative differences, the overall quantitative behaviour is
comparable to the case of 45◦ astigmatism. That is, the beam quality factor change is not sharp
for the beams with radius 1 cm, but the change becomes very drastic at the beam radius given by
3 cm.
 Research Article Vol. 31, No. 24 / 20 Nov 2023 / Optics Express 39393

The effect of spherical aberration on the beam quality factor of Hermite-Gauss beams is shown
in Fig. 7. For Hermite-Gauss beams with a radius of 1 cm, there is no effect on the beam quality
as can be seen in Fig. 7(a). However, the same is not true for the Hermite-Gauss beams with a
radius of 3 cm. The beam quality factor is affected sharply and the amount by which it changes is
dependent on the particular Hermite-Gauss beam.

5. Summary
In this work, we explored the concept of beam quality factor and its relationship to aberrations in
optical beams. Particularly, we focused on different types of astigmatism: 0◦ and 45◦ , triangular
astigmatism, and spherical aberration. We found that 0◦ astigmatism has no effect on the beam
quality factor of Hermite-Gauss beams. Triangular and 45◦ astigmatism have an effect on the
beam quality factor of the Hermite-Gauss beams. In the case of triangular astigmatism, we found
that the effect of x−triangular astigmatism on the beam quality factor along the x direction is the
same as the effect of y−triangular astigmatism on the beam quality factor along the y direction,
and vice-versa. We also found that spherical aberration has an effect on the beam quality factor of
Hermite-Gauss beams. In all cases, we found that the beam quality factor has the same qualitative
behavior. The aberrations have a negligible effect up to some beam radius, where after the beam
quality factor starts to deviate sharply from the aberration-free case. Based on this observation,
we further derived a radius that can be used as a boundary to separate the region of minimal effect
and the region of sharp increase. We call the derived beam radius the critical width. We found
that the critical width depends on the strength of the aberrations, and also on the wavelength and
the indices of the Hermite-Gauss beam. Furthermore, given that the Hermite-Gauss beams are
not circularly symmetric, we found that the critical width is in general different for the beam
quality along the x and the beam quality factor along the y direction. Overall, the findings of this
article highlight the importance of considering aberrations in optical beams and their effects on
the beam quality factor. By understanding and quantifying these effects, it becomes possible to
optimize optical systems and ensure the delivery of high-quality beams for various applications.
Acknowledgments. The research was carried out with the partial support of a grant from the National Research
Foundation (NRF). CMM would like to thank Shaun Mabena for his assistance with some of the calculations.
Disclosures. The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest related to this article.
Data availability. Data underlying the results presented in this work are not publicly available at this time but may
be obtained from the authors upon reasonable request.

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