An astigmatic and elliptically diverging laser beam generated by a gain-guided laser diode can be converted into a collimated and circular beam with a single specially designed lens. The designed lens also corrects for the astigmatism present in the laser diode. The input surface of the lens has a different concave and convex aspherical profile in the transverse and the longitudinal direction, respectively, for astigmatism correction. The output surface possesses a convex aspherical and a straight profile in the transverse and the longitudinal direction, respectively, for collimation and circularization of the final output laser beam.