Paper detail

Effect of Diffraction on Wigner Distributions of Optical Fields and how to Use It in Optical Resonator Theory. III -- Ray Tracing in Resonators

The third part of the paper is devoted to ray tracing in optical resonators. The employed method for dealing with the issue uses the elliptical or hyperbolic rotations that Wigner distributions associated with optical fields undergo during propagation from one spherical mirror of a resonator to the other. It is illustrated by various examples concerning meridional or skew rays, reentrant in stable resonators or propagating in unstable resonators. A classification of optical resonators is eventually deduced.