Generalized Gaussian beams

A unity of Hermite-Gaussian (HG) and Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beam families is proposed by introducing an additional parameter. Continuous changing of the introduced parameter allows one to transform HG beams into LG beams in a continuous way, keeping some important properties of both families, for example, structural stability under propagation. The generalized beams (called Hermite-Laguerre-Gaussian beams) are investigated by theoretical and experimental means.