Phase-flipped Hermite–Gaussian beams and their propagation beyond the paraxial approximation

An extension of phase-flipped Gaussian (PFG) beams to the multi-mode nonparaxial case is made. The recurrence propagation expressions for phase-flipped Hermite–Gaussian (PFHG) beams beyond the paraxial approximation are derived and used to study nonparaxial propagation properties of PFHG beams in free space and through a knife edge and an aperture, and to compare nonparaxial results with paraxial ones. The propagation of paraxial PFHG beams and PFG beams and nonparaxial PFG beams is treated as special cases of nonparaxial PFHG beams. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the theoretical results.