Abstract. Explicit truncated series expressions modelling the fields of a focused radially polarized Gaussian laser beam are derived, accurate to order ε¹⁵, where ε is the associated fundamental Gaussian beam diffraction angle. The new terms make significant corrections to the known paraxial field components, the corrected fields satisfy Maxwell's equations exactly, and their series converge for ε<1 and diverge for ε≥1.

A corrigendum for this article has been published in 2008 New J. Phys. 10 069801

Received 20 June 2006
Published 10 August 2006