Determination of beam parameters and coherence properties of laser radiation by use of an extended Hartmann-Shack wave-front sensor

A combination of a Hartmann-Shack sensor and a standard far-field measurement on one single detector is proposed. The technique is fast and operates without movable parts, thus permitting a compact design. It is not only suited for characterization of the wave-front distribution but may also be considered for determination of the important parameters of beam width, beam divergence, and beam propagation ratio M-2 of partially coherent laser beams. First results indicate that a fairly thorough beam characterization, including spatial coherence, propagation characteristics, and beam quality, can be achieved with this method. (C) 2002 Optical Society of America.