Abstract
As has been explained in Sect. 2.2, the wave propagating in a single-mode fiber is very similar to a free wave beam in air; it can easily be launched by an incident free beam, and produces a free beam radiated from the fiber end. For these reasons, it is worth while studying the basic properties of free wave beams propagating through a homogeneous medium. We have already described some qualitative properties of wave beams in a homogeneous medium in Sect. 2.1. Relying on physical intuition, we introduced the concepts of the transverse intensity distribution, the spot size, the beam waist, the wavefronts, and the intensity vector. We also learned that a beam has a natural tendency to diffraction spreading. In this chapter, we will discuss the properties of these so-called Gaussian beams more quantitatively.
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© 1988 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Neumann, EG. (1988). Gaussian Beams. In: Single-Mode Fibers. Springer Series in Optical Sciences, vol 57. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-48173-7_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-48173-7_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-13699-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-48173-7
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