A further comparative study of flattened Gaussian beams and super-Gaussian beams

A further comparison between flattened Gaussian beams (FGBs) and super-Gaussian beams (SGBs) is performed. It is shown that the two FGB and SGB having the same beam propagation factor (M-2-factor) but different waist widths demonstrate a similar irradiance profile at the position of the equal generalized Fresnel number, while they propagate through a paraxial ABCD system. Furthermore, the focusing by a spherically aberrated lens is studied, and nearly the same propagation characteristics are achieved for the two FGB and SGB with the same M-2-factor and waist width.