Numerical Analysis of Laser Beam Width and Beam Quality of Q-switched Lasers Using Different Definitions of the Beam Width

With the increasing number of laser applications, there is a need for unambiguous and simple methods for measurement of laser beam parameters such as beam width and beam quality. There have been numerous approaches to this, see e.g. [1], which all have their limitations, depending on the application of the laser beam. Even further complications arise when trying to characterize the time-varying output from pulsed lasers, in which case the propagation properties of the beam will in general vary throughout the pulse.