Propagation of Hermite-Gaussian-beams beyond the paraxial approximation

Non-paraxial propagation of standard Hermite-Gaussian-beams is investigated by the expansion theory introduced by Lax et al. [Phys. Rev. A 11 (1975) 1365]. The results of the expansion theory applied to Hermite-Gaussian-modes with complex arguments by Takenaka et al. [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 2 (1985) 826] were used to obtain the non-paraxial correction to the standard Hermite-Gaussian-modes. The non-paraxial results of the expansion theory are compared with the diffraction theory. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.