Rms characterization of Bessel–Gauss beams: Correspondence between polar and Cartesian representations

A recent analysis [G. Rousseau, D. Gay and M. Piché, One-dimensional description of cylindrically symmetric laser beams: application to Bessel-type nondiffracting beams, J. Opt. Soc. Am. A, 22 (2005) 1274] has shown that any cylindrically symmetric laser beam can be synthesized from a single wave called a constituent wave. This representation allows the introduction of one-dimensional Cartesian root-mean-square (rms) parameters to describe the conical structure of cylindrically symmetric laser beams. In this paper, we compare the rms characterization of Bessel–Gauss beams in polar coordinates with that of their respective constituent waves in Cartesian coordinates. Numerical results reveal an asymptotic correspondence between polar and Cartesian rms parameters of Bessel–Gauss beams propagating in a nondiffracting regime. Such a correspondence eliminates misleading interpretations about the propagation factor and the Rayleigh range of nondiffracting Bessel-type beams characterized in terms of polar rms parameters.