Spatially depolarised laser radiation

The properties of polarisation-inhomogeneous laser radiation are considered taking into account its partial polarisation. It is shown that this radiation can be represented by a set of Hermite–Gaussian modes with different intensities and polarisations, and different coherence degrees. Devices having inhomogeneous depolarisation and polarisation are analysed. It is shown that the polarisation structure of polarisation-inhomogeneous radiation is not preserved during its propagation.