Generation of a Dark Hollow Beam inside a Cavity

A new method is introduced to generate a hollow beam inside a cavity. Using a matrix eigenvalue method, the laser resonator with optical diffraction elements is theoretically analysed and simulated. The hollow beam can be obtained theoretically by controlling the parameters of the diffraction functions. After designed the diffraction components in the cavity, a hollow beam of good quality is realized experimentally using a YAG solid state laser.