Direct Interferometric Measurement of Static and Nonlinear Wavefront Distortions of a High Power Glass Laser Beam

The wavefront distortion of a large aperture (200 mm) laser beam from a high power glass laser system was directly measured using an interferometric method. The measured static and nonlinear wavefront distortions were used to calculate the intensity distributions at the far field and were then compared with the experimental data. The relationship between the wavefront distortion and the far field pattern thus established is very useful for characterizing the performance of the laser system.