BEAM-PROPAGATION METHOD APPLIED TO THE DEFLECTION OF A LASER-BEAM ACROSS A HOT PLATE SUBJECT TO JET IMPINGEMENT

We describe an application of the beam-propagation method of Fleck et al. [Appl. Phys. 10, 129-160 (1976)], whereby we consider a laser beam propagating initially parallel to a hot plate subject to jet impingem ent; we also compute the intensity profile of the beam as it emerges f rom the boundary layer. A comparison with a calculation based on ray t racing illustrates the significant role of wave effects (as treated by the beam-propagation method) in this case. We describe a method for m easuring the rate of heat transfer q in the viscous sublayer that is a pplicable in the ray-tracing limit but that cannot be utilized here (o ther than to provide an upper limit to q) because of the substantial w ave effects.