Laser beam patterns of an optical cavity formed by two twisted cylindrical mirrors

Propagation of an elliptical Gaussian beam in a multiple-pass optical cell formed by two twisted cylindrical mirrors has been described by means of complex curvature tensors. Using the ABCD tensor approach various light patterns were computed for the use in tunable laser absorption spectroscopy with a multiple-pass optical cell. Light patterns with high beam-spot density can be also defined for a cavity formed by two twisted cylindrical high-reflectivity mirrors. In order to achieve higher cavity output intensity, a high-reflectivity cylindrical mirror cavity with at least one mirror that has a central transparent spot for laser beam injection has been described for applications in non-resonant cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy. The author was with TDL Sensors Ltd., when the experimental part of this work was performed.