The paraxial approximation to the wave equation in curvilinear coordinates for numerical simulation of optical beam diffraction (Q1769008)

This investigation presents a conservative finite-difference numerical scheme for solving diffraction problems for optical beams on the basis of the paraxial approximation to the wave equation in curvilinear coordinate systems. The authors first show that the use of spherical (cylindrical) coordinates in the simulation of radially propagating optical beams with a sufficiently wide angular spectrum allows one to extend the application possibilities and obtain a better accuracy of the paraxial approximation, and then in the numerical solution of the problem, they present that this idea provides a natural adaptation of the uniform grid to specific properties of solutions describing free diffraction and waveguide propagation of optical beams in inhomogeneous waveguide structures of conical (or wedge-shaped) form.