Binary-phase Fresnel zone plate arrays for high-power laser beam smoothing

Binary-phase optics have been used by a number of high-power laser laboratories in order to achieve relatively smooth focal spots. However, the intensity envelopes have in general been of a sinc form rather than `top-hat.' This paper presents work on the production of uniform `top-hat' intensity focal spot profiles obtained from Fresnel binary phase zone plate (PZP) arrays of various designs. Phase plates are used to generate large area smooth focal spots and both theoretical and experimental focal spots are presented. These demonstrate the flexibility of this technique which provides a simple method of generating both uniform `top-hat' intensity profiles and spatially shaped foci, for use with high-power lasers.