LAUSR

Abstract In the present work, the effect of a thermal lens generated by a pump beam on the propagation of a flat-topped probe beam is investigated. The analysis of results shows that the thermal lens affects the probe beam waist radius, the far-field divergence angle and the waist position; this last one can be virtual or real according to the sign of the refractive index thermal gradient. Numerical simulations are performed to indicate the influence of thermal lens on the physical parameters of the flat-topped probe beam by considering the sample as a solvent and numerical results are given for many solvents with different absorption coefficient.