Phase singularities of nonparaxial cosh-Gaussian vortex beams diffracted by a rectangular aperture

Analytical expression for the propagation of nonparaxial cosh-Gaussian (ChG) beams diffracted by a rectangular aperture is derived based on the vector Rayleigh-Sommerfeld diffraction integrals and expansion of the aperture window function into a finite sum of complex Gaussian functions, and used to study the phase singularities of nonparaxial diffracted ChG vortex beams. The pair creation, annihilation, motion of phase singularities in the diffracted field and the dependence of position and number of phase singularities on the aperture and beam parameters, as well as on the beam nonparaxiality are illustrated by numerical examples. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.