The effects of induced heat loads on the propagation of Ince-Gaussian beams

Thermal effects are very much influential in high power beam generators. Their impacts on special types of beams such as Helmholtz-Gauss beams have attracted special attentions. This work reports thermal effects on the generation and propagation of Ince-Gaussian beams. The results show considerable beam spot size variations for near fields under various induced heat loads. As Ince-Gaussian beams are directly related to cavity symmetry breaking, the results can greatly help system designers for circumventing these types of symmetry breaks usually encountered in high power lasers.