Laser beam propagation in a saturable absorber

Abstract

The effects of the saturation of absorption on the propagation of Gaussian laser beams in an absorber are investigated analytically. Using a dimensionless parameter quantifying the level of saturation, we calculate the modifications in the beam parameters as perturbations from known solutions. are carried out in two directions, covering both low-and high-saturation cases. mates the power transmission for all saturation levels. Numerical results are provided showing the effects of saturation on the spatial beam-spot size variation and the power transmission.