Vectorial theory of propagation in uniaxially anisotropic media

We describe propagation in a uniaxially anisotropic medium by relying on a suitable plane-wave angular-spectrum representation of the electromagnetic field. We obtain paraxial expressions for both ordinary and extraordinary c omponents that satisfy two decoupled parabolic equations. As an application , we obtain, for a particular input beam (a quasi-Gaussian beam), analytica l results that allow us to identify some relevant features of propagation i n uniaxial crystals. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America.