Influence of astigmatism and defocusing on the focusing of a singular beam

Using the Fresnel-Kirchhoff diffraction integral, the intensity distribution and encircled energy of a singular beam at the focal plane of a lens, has been numerically evaluated in the presence of astigmatism and defocusing. Study has been made for two values of topological charge. The aberration results in flattening of dark core and the effect is more pronounced for beam with double topological charge. Twofold symmetry in intensity distribution is observed for selected values of defocusing. The results have been verified by the optical transfer function (OTF) approach. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.