Propagation of Lorentz and Lorentz-Gauss beams through an apertured fractional Fourier transform optical system

By expanding the hard-aperture function into a finite sum of complex Gaussian functions, we derive approximate analytical formulae for Lorentz and Lorentz-Gauss beams propagating through an apertured fractional Fourier transform (FRT) optical system. As an application example, properties of a Lorentz-Gauss beam in the FRT plane after propagating through a squarely or annularly apertured FRT optical system are studied numerically. The results obtained using the approximate analytical formula are in good agreement with those obtained using numerical integral calculation. The FRT optical system provides a convenient way for laser beam shaping.