Influence of phase distortion on the propagation of vortex beams

Far field distributions of Gaussian vortex beams with phase distortion have been studied theoretically, and these studies have provided explanations of the beam behavior to some extent. Based on super-Gaussian incidence by simulation, the beam's quality has been discussed by investigating the influence of phase distortion with different spatial intensities or spatial frequencies. The tolerance of vortex beams with different topological charges or transporting distances to some different phase distortion have been studied. Results show that phase distortion with stronger peak-valley values or lower spatial frequencies will have a more forceful impact on the quality of beams. Vortex beams with higher topological charges could have more energy-restricting abilities; however, vortex beams with farther distances can keep the quality of beams stable even as they cause energy dispersion. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America