Abstract

The generation of laser beams with high energy, uniform spatial distribution, and minimal divergence is essential to many applications. A recently proposed technique¹ allows control of the amplitude and phase distribution of a laser emission. This concept, known as the Fourier-transform resonator, uses two binary transmittance filters located in two conjugated Fourier planes, inside a laser resonator, to perform efficient modal filtering during the build-up of the laser emission.

© 1995 Optical Society of America