Broadband conversion of higher order LP _{0, <i>m</i>} modes to Gaussian beams using silica binary phase plates

We demonstrate conversion of a higher-order LP 0, m mode to a nearly perfect Gaussian beam using silica binary phase plates. The conversion efficiencies obtained are above 60% with corresponding beam propagation parameters of M 2 &lt; 1.1 of the converted beams for all investigated higher order modes, indicating conversion to an almost perfectly Gaussian beam. We also provide a numerical analysis of the conversion scheme, including bandwidth, both with respect to the conversion efficiency and resulting M 2 . Lastly, we discuss the impact of parasitic modes on the conversion scheme.