Modal decomposition of partially coherent flat-topped beams produced by multimode lasers.

We present a simple mathematical model giving a possible description of a partially coherent light beam exhibiting a flat-topped transverse intensity profile. Such a model allows us to deduce the modal distribution inside a multimode stable optical cavity, assuming that the modes are of the Hermite-Gauss type. The analytical expression used to represent flat-topped profiles is of the flattened Gaussian type and leads to an exact, closed-form expression for the M(2) factor of the output beam. An analogous procedure could be used to treat the general problem of deducing the modal distribution inside a laser cavity starting from intensity measurements of the output beam.