Rays and fields in general astigmatic resonators

General astigmatic (GA) resonators are discussed in detail. Eigenrays, eigenmodes and eigenvalues (Gouy-factors) of this resonator are evaluated. A stability diagram for such resonators is introduced, which clearly depicts the stable and unstable regions for rays as well as for fields. Eigenrays and their stability regions are evaluated using the ABCD-law. For the beam propagation Collins' integral and the second moment method are applied. The eigenfunctions for rectangular symmetry are the generalized Hermite polynomials multiplied by the Gaussian exponential factor. It is shown that for general astigmatic resonators these polynomials are the product of normal Hermite polynomials. The generating function of the eigenfunctions depends on the special resonator. It is a useful tool for all calculations and it is determined. Furthermore it is shown that the second moment characterization of the modes is a useful and easy to handle procedure to evaluate beam width, beam divergence, radius of curvature and twist of the generalized Gauss–Hermite functions.