Reshaping Gaussian Schell-model beams to uniform profiles by lenses with spherical aberration.

In this paper, we theoretically demonstrate that lenses with negative spherical aberration can be used to reshape a Gaussian Schell-model (GSM) beam to uniform profiles. The numerical calculation results show that, when the coherence of the GSM beam is low, we can achieve uniform GSM beams with smooth top. As the coherence increases, some intensity modulation occurs at the top of the uniform GSM beam. This intensity modulation is caused by the interference of highly coherent light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]