Gaussian_power

plasmapy.formulary.laser.Gaussian_power(
intensity: Annotated[Quantity, Unit('W / m2')],
beam_waist_radius: Annotated[Quantity, Unit('m')],
) → Annotated[Quantity, Unit('W')][source]

Calculate the total power of a Gaussian beam \(P_0\) from the intensity \(I\) and the beam waist radius \(w_0\).

The total power of a Gaussian beam is calculated using:

\[P_0=\frac{1}{2}I_0 \pi w_0^2,\]

where \(w_0\) is the beam waist radius and \(I_0\) is the intensity of the beam.

Parameters:

  • intensity (Quantity) – Intensity of the laser pulse (convertible to W / m2).

  • beam_waist_radius (Quantity) – Beam waist of the laser pulse (convertible to m).

Returns:

P_0 – The total power of the Gaussian beam for the given intensity and spot size.

Return type:

Quantity

Notes

For details, see Gaussian beam.

Examples

>>> import astropy.units as u
>>> Gaussian_power(1e18 * u.watt / u.cm**2, 1 * u.um)  # Total beam power
<Quantity 1.57079633e+10 W>