In this paper, high_order contrast is brought forward for studying small_scale self_focusing phenomenon in high_power solid state laser drivers. Based on the properties of semi_invariant, we obtain the analytic expressions of high_order contrast of near field of beams. Finally, we study the propagation of plane waves with PSD phase noise and obtain the evolution of fill factor, modulation, contra st, third_order contrast and fourth_order contrast with Bintegral value. C omparing the results of numerical simulation, we find that third_order contrast and fourth_order contrast are good parameters for characterizing the small_scale self_focusing phenomenon.