Electromagnetic modified Bessel-Gauss beams and waves

The transverse magnetic (TM) modified Bessel-Gauss beams and their full-wave generalizations are treated. Attention is paid to the spreading properties on propagation of the null in the radiation intensity pattern for the azimuthal mode numbers m=0 and 1. The rate of spreading of the null in the propagation direction is significantly less for the TM modified Bessel-Gauss waves than those for the corresponding TM Bessel-Gauss waves. The total power transported by the waves is determined and compared with that of the corresponding paraxial beam to estimate the quality of the paraxial beam approximation of the wave. The dependence of the quality of the paraxial beam approximation on the azimuthal mode number, the beam shape parameter, and the ratio of the beam waist to the wavelength has a regular pattern for the TM Bessel-Gauss wave and not for the TM modified Bessel-Gauss wave. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.