Piquero Sanz, Gemma MaríaMartínez Herrero, María RosarioMejías Arias, Pedro Miguel2023-06-202023-06-201992-12-010146-959210.1364/OL.17.001650https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/58857© 1992 Optical Society of America. We acknowledge the financial support of the Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología of Spain under Project ROB90-53.The effects that quartic phase distortions produce in the beam-quality parameter of partially coherent symmetric-intensity beams are studied. An analytical expression for the beam-quality parameter at the output plane of a pure phase plate with quartic phase aberration has been derived. Explicit conditions to improve the beam quality are provided, and the corresponding optimized beam-quality value that can be attained for a given field has been determined.engjournal articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OL.17.001650http://www.opticsinfobase.orgopen access535LightÓptica (Física)2209.19 Óptica Física