Vol. 43, Issue 2, pp. 205-216 (2013)

Abstract

The expressions for the elements of the on-axis and transverse generalized Stokes parameters of random electromagnetic quasi-homogeneous beams on propagation are presented and are used to study the polarization properties of the beams. Some typical numerical calculations of the on-axis and transverse Stokes parameters, polarization properties of the beams on propagation are illustrated. The results show that for different sources all the on-axis parameters are identical in the near field and keep fixed values in the far field. But the transverse parameters are affected greatly by the properties of the source even in the near field. We have also found that the spatial profiles of the transverse parameters remain unchanged upon propagation.