  The Snell phase effects on the propagation of optical beams through
dielectric blocks have been matter of recent theoretical studies. The effects
of this phase on the laser profiles have been tested in our experiment. The
data show an excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions confirming
the axial spreading modification and the transversal symmetry breaking. The
possibility to set, by rotating the dielectric blocks, different configurations
allows to recover the transversal symmetry. Based on this experimental
evidence, dielectric blocks can be used as alternative optical tools to control
the beam profile.
