Laser beam shaping system with a radial birefringent filter.

Reshaping of a Gaussian laser beam into a uniform or other intensity distribution is required for various applications. The laser beam shaping system with a radial birefringent filter is presented in this paper. With such a system the Gaussian beams can be transformed into uniform or annular beams. The theory and simulation of the proposed systems are described in detail. The primary advantage of such a system is that the out beam profile can be tunable with the rotation of the radial birefringent element. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]