Beam quality of radial Gaussian Schell-model array beams

Taking the Rayleigh range z_R and the M²-factor as the characteristic parameters of beam quality, the beam quality of radial Gaussian Schell-model (GSM) array beams is studied. The analytical expressions for the z_R and the M²-factor of radial GSM array beams are derived. It is shown that for the superposition of the cross-spectral density function z_R is longer and the M²-factor is lower than that for the superposition of the intensity. For the two types of superposition, z_R increases and the M²-factor decreases with increase in beam coherence parameter, and both z_R and the M²-factor increase with increase in inverse radial fill-factor. For the superposition of the cross-spectral density function, z_R increases and the M²-factor decreases with increase in beam number, while for the superposition of the intensity both the z_R and M²-factor are independent of the beam number.