Geometrical on-axis access to high-finesse resonators by quasi-imaging: a theoretical description

We describe a novel method for providing geometrical on-axis access to an optical enhancement resonator through an on-axis aperture at one of its mirrors. A superposition of transverse modes in a stable degenerate resonator is used to form a field distribution which avoids the aperture and therefore exhibits small loss. Upon propagation in the resonator the modes acquire a different phase, and an on-axis intensity maximum is formed at a different position. We call this a quasi-imaging resonator, because it is related to imaging in the sense that a hole in the field distribution, exacted by the aperture, is reproduced after a resonator round trip. (paper)