Anomalous lens effect on laser beam at vacuum–plasma boundary

We find theoretically that an incident laser beam with a diverging (converging) profile on the vacuum–plasma boundary turns out a converging (diverging) beam in the plasma when ε₃<0 as if there were a convex (concave) lens at the boundary, ε₃ being the dielectric coefficient along the magnetic field.     

Propagation of a vectorial Laguerre–Gaussian beam beyond the paraxial approximation

Based on the vectorial Rayleigh–Sommerfeld integrals, the analytical propagation expression of a vectorial Laguerre–Gaussian beam beyond paraxial approximation is presented. The far field expression and the scalar paraxial result are obtained as special cases of the general formulae. According to the analytical representation, the light intensity distribution of the vectorial Laguerre–Gaussian beam is depicted in the reference plane. The light intensity distribution of a vectorial Laguerre–Gaussian beam with cos m is also compared with that of a vectorial Laguerre–Gaussian beam with sin m.     

Vectorial structure of Hermite–Laguerre–Gaussian beam in the far field

Starting from Maxwell's equations, a Hermite–Laguerre–Gaussian (HLG) beam is decomposed into the TE and TM terms by using the vector angular spectrum representation. By means of the method of stationary phase, the analytical TE and TM terms are presented in the far field. The energy flux distributions of the TE and TM terms are also investigated and depicted in the far field. The influences of the additional angle parameter and Gaussian waist width on the vectorial structure and energy flux pattern of HLG beam are also investigated. This research reveals the internal vectorial structure of HLG beam and may provide a new approach to the manipulation of laser beams.     

Total reflection in a uniaxial crystal–uniaxial crystal interface

Considering an interface between two uniaxial birefringent crystals, four reflected and four refracted waves for each incidence direction are obtained. Along this direction can propagate an ordinary wave and an extraordinary wave. Here, we present the analytic expressions for the four critical angles, from which each refracted wave no more exists as propagating wave. We show the variation in these critical angles for different interfaces varying the orientation of the incidence plane with respect to the optical axes. When both principal refractive indices of the second medium are smaller than those of the first medium, then the four critical angles exist for each incidence plane and for any direction of the optical axes. But, when one of the indices has an intermediate value between the values of the indices of the other crystal, we can chose the optical axes directions in such a way that certain critical angles do not exist. Therefore, we can select the refracted wave that is eliminated by total reflection.     

Study on a Bessel–Gaussian beam laser

A new concept and the method are presented to obtain a laser beam output with high luminance and quality. Instead of using the conventional concept of “obtaining a single transverse mode through compressing the oscillating mode volume using a small aperture diaphragm”, the large multimode volume and the high output power are obtained by studying the physical mechanism of the expansion and coupling between a Bessel beam and a Gaussian beam. A high quality light beam (close to the diffraction limit) with high luminance and large intensity difference between the center and the edge is achieved simultaneously.     

The elliptical Laguerre–Gaussian beam and its propagation

A new kind of light beam called the elliptical Laguerre–Gaussian beam (ELGB) is proposed in this paper in terms of tensor method. The propagation formula of ELGB through axially asymmetric optical system is derived by the generalized Collins integral. By using this formula, the propagation of ELGB in free space is calculated and discussed. The results show that the propagation behavior of ELGBs is notably different from that of LGBs.     

Far-field properties and beam quality of vectorial Hermite–Laguerre–Gaussian beams beyond the paraxial approximation

The far-field properties and beam quality of vectorial nonparaxial Hermite–Laguerre–Gaussian (HLG) beams are studied in detail, where, instead of the second-order-moments-based M² factor, the extended power in the bucket (PIB) and βparameter are used to characterize the beam quality in the far field and the intensity in the formulae is replaced by the z component of the time-averaged Poynting vector S_z. It is found that the S_z PIB and βparameter of vectorial nonparaxial HLG beams depend on the mode indices n, m, αparameter and waist-width-to-wavelength ratio w₀/λ and the PIB and βparameter are additionally dependent on the bucket's size taken.     

Enhanced applications of speaker-modulated helium–neon laser beam

Wide range of applications using He–Ne laser were carried out employing speaker for vibration modulation. The very simple method was achieved by gluing a mirror to the diaphragm of an ordinary miniature speaker. The technique allows many of the applications that depend on laser absorption coincidences to be performed by a He–Ne laser enhancing by the range of applications in which it can be used and avoiding the complications and expenses needed for sophisticated equipment. Speaker modulation was found efficient and comparable to mechanical chopper modulation. The method is sensitive enough to determine minute changes in index of refraction or transparent material thickness change and suitable for odor emission monitor.     

Three-dimensional hybrid modeling based on a beam propagation method and a diffraction formula for an AWG demultiplexer

An efficient and accurate three-dimensional (3D) hybrid modeling, which combines a 3D beam propagation method (BPM) and the two-dimensional (2D) Kirchhoff–Huygens diffraction formula, is developed to simulate the field propagation in an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) demultiplexer. The 2D Kirchhoff–Huygens diffraction formula is used for the simulation of the light propagation in the free propagation regions (FPRs). A 3D BPM in a polar coordinate system is used to simulate the light propagation in the transition region between the input FPR and the arrayed waveguides so that the coupling coefficients for the arrayed waveguides are calculated conveniently and accurately. For the simulation in the transition region between the arrayed waveguides and the output FPR, only the central arrayed waveguide and several adjacent ones are needed in the computational window of a standard BPM and thus the computation efficiency is improved. Finally, a flat-top AWG is designed and fabricated to verify the reliability of the present simulation method. The calculated and measured spectral responses are in a good agreement.     

Directive metamaterial-based subwavelength resonant cavity antennas – Applications for beam steering

This article presents the use of composite resonant metamaterials for the design of highly directive subwavelength cavity antennas. These metamaterials, composed of planar metallic patterns periodically organized on dielectric substrates, exhibit frequency dispersive phase characteristics. Different models of metamaterial-based surfaces (metasurfaces), introducing a zero degree reflection phase shift to incident waves, are firstly studied where the bandwidth and operation frequency are predicted. These surfaces are then applied in a resonant Fabry–Perot type cavity and a ray optics analysis is used to design different models of ultra-compact high-gain microstrip printed antennas. Another surface presenting a variable reflection phase by the use of a non-periodic metamaterial-based metallic strips array is designed for a passive low-profile steering beam antenna application. Finally, the incorporation of active electronic components on the metasurfaces, allowing an electronic control of the phase responses, is applied to an operation frequency reconfigurable cavity and a beam steering cavity. All these cavity antennas operate on subwavelength modes, the smallest cavity thickness being of the order of λ/60. To cite this article: A. Ourir et al., C. R. Physique 10 (2009).     

Propagation of high-order Bessel–Gaussian beam through a misaligned first-order optical system

The generalized diffraction integralis used to derive a generalized formula for high-order Bessel–Gaussian beams (HBGBs) through a misaligned first-order ABCD optical system. It is found that, when a HBGB propagates through a misaligned optical system, the beam shape of the output beam is unchanged. However, the center of the output beam is deviated from the optical axis, forming a decentered HBGB. The position of the output beam may be controlled by adjusting the misaligned parameters. Based on the derived formula, the diffraction patterns of HBGBs propagating through a simple misaligned lens system have been calculated numerically. These results may be useful in the application of laser beams for trapping and manipulating a wide variety of particles.     

Ultra low head–disk spacing measurement using dual beam polarisation interferometry

In this paper, a dual-beam normal incidence polarisation interferometer is proposed to measure the flying height or head–disk spacing. Using this interferometer, the head–disk spacing can be measured both in magnetic real disk condition and in glass disk condition. It has the advantage of both the currently popular intensity interferometry method and the oblique incidence polarisation interferometry method. With this polarisation interferometer, not only the flying height can be measured down to contact without losing accuracy, but the pitch and roll of the head-slider can also be detected dynamically. The optical parameters of the head-slider can also be determined. Design details and experimental study are presented.     

Generalized beam propagation factor of hard-edged circular apertured diffracted Bessel–Gaussian beams

Based on the truncated second-order moments method on the cylindrical coordinate systems and the incomplete gamma function, an analytical expression of the generalized beam propagation factor (M_G² factor) of hard-edged circular apertured diffracted Bessel–Gaussian beams is derived and illustrated numerically. It is shown that the M_G² factor of hard-edged diffracted BGBs mainly depends on the truncation parameter δ and the beam parameters m and η. The results can be reduced to that for the non-truncated Bessel–Gaussian beams case and that for the truncated fundamental Gaussian beams case under certain conditions, respectively. The power fraction is also discussed analytically and numerically.     

Transmission of a Gaussian beam after incidenting nonnormally on a Fabry–Perot etalon

The transmission of a Gaussian beam after incidenting nonnormally on a Fabry–Perot etalon has been investigated. After deriving the expression of the intensity of the transmitted beam, several key characteristics of the transmitted beam have been specified. The results show that the peak intensity of the transmitted beam decreases with the increase of the input angle, the position of the peak intensity of the transmitted beam is shifted, and the spot size of the transmitted beam is changed.     

A continuation BSOR-Lanczos–Galerkin method for positive bound states of a multi-component Bose–Einstein condensate

We develop a continuation block successive over-relaxation (BSOR)-Lanczos–Galerkin method for the computation of positive bound states of time-independent, coupled Gross–Pitaevskii equations (CGPEs) which describe a multi-component Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC). A discretization of the CGPEs leads to a nonlinear algebraic eigenvalue problem (NAEP). The solution curve with respect to some parameter of the NAEP is then followed by the proposed method. For a single-component BEC, we prove that there exists a unique global minimizer (the ground state) which is represented by an ordinary differential equation with the initial value. For a multi-component BEC, we prove that m identical ground/bound states will bifurcate into m different ground/bound states at a finite repulsive inter-component scattering length. Numerical results show that various positive bound states of a two/three-component BEC are solved efficiently and reliably by the continuation BSOR-Lanczos–Galerkin method.     

The elliptical elegant Laguerre–Gaussian beam and its propagation through aligned and misaligned paraxial optical systems

A new kind of laser beam called the elliptical elegant Laguerre–Gaussian beam (EELGB) is defined by using tensor method. By using the generalized diffraction integral formulas for light beam passing through paraxial optical system, the analytical propagation formulas for EELGB passing through paraxial aligned and misaligned optical systems are obtained through vector integration. As examples of applications, the propagation properties of EELGBs in free space propagation and through a misaligned thin lens are studied.     

Cranked Skyrme–Hartree–Fock calculation for superdeformed and hyperdeformed rotational bands in N=Z nuclei from S to Cr

With the use of the symmetry-unrestricted cranked Skyrme–Hartree–Fock method in the three-dimensional coordinate-mesh representation, we have carried out a systematic theoretical search for the superdeformed and hyperdeformed rotational bands in the mass A=30–50 region. Along the N=Z line, we have found superdeformed solutions in ³²S, ³⁶Ar, ⁴⁰Ca, ⁴⁴Ti, and hyperdeformed solutions in ³⁶Ar, ⁴⁰Ca, ⁴⁴Ti, ⁴⁸Cr. The superdeformed band in ⁴⁰Ca is found to be extremely soft against both the axially symmetric (Y₃₀) and asymmetric (Y₃₁) octupole deformations. An interesting role of symmetry breaking in the mean field is pointed out.     

Transmission of a Gaussian beam after incidenting nonnormally on a Fabry–Perot etalon: a nonresonant case

Under the nonresonant case where the carrier frequency of a Gaussian beam deviates from the resonant frequency of a Fabry–Perot etalon, the transmission of a Gaussian beam after incidenting nonnormally on a Fabry–Perot etalon has been investigated. The results show that under the nonresonant case, variations of the peak intensity, the position of the peak intensity and the spot size of the transmitted beam with the input angle behave differently and even with a reversed tendency compared with those obtained under the resonant case.     

Propagation properties of partially coherent modified Bessel–Gauss beams

Starting from the propagation law of partially coherent light, the analytical propagation equations of partially coherent modified Bessel–Gauss beams (MBGBs) through a paraxial optical ABCD system are derived and illustrated with typical application examples. Furthermore, by using the intensity moments method and integral transformation technique, the important characteristic parameters, including the beam width, far-field divergence angle, M² factor and kurtosis parameter of partially coherent MBGBs, are expressed in a closed and simple form. As a result, some basic properties of MBGBs and the dependence of the M² factor and kurtosis parameter on the spectral degree of coherence and beam order are illustrated both analytically and numerically.     

High-order compact exponential finite difference methods for convection–diffusion type problems

A class of high-order compact (HOC) exponential finite difference (FD) methods is proposed for solving one- and two-dimensional steady-state convection–diffusion problems. The newly proposed HOC exponential FD schemes have nonoscillation property and yield high accuracy approximation solution as well as are suitable for convection-dominated problems. The O(h⁴) compact exponential FD schemes developed for the one-dimensional (1D) problems produce diagonally dominant tri-diagonal system of equations which can be solved by applying the tridiagonal Thomas algorithm. For the two-dimensional (2D) problems, O(h⁴ + k⁴) compact exponential FD schemes are formulated on the nine-point 2D stencil and the line iterative approach with alternating direction implicit (ADI) procedure enables us to deal with diagonally dominant tridiagonal matrix equations which can be solved by application of the one-dimensional tridiagonal Thomas algorithm with a considerable saving in computing time. To validate the present HOC exponential FD methods, three linear and nonlinear problems, mostly with boundary or internal layers where sharp gradients may appear due to high Peclet or Reynolds numbers, are numerically solved. Comparisons are made between analytical solutions and numerical results for the currently proposed HOC exponential FD methods and some previously published HOC methods. The present HOC exponential FD methods produce excellent results for all test problems. It is shown that, besides including the excellent performances in computational accuracy, efficiency and stability, the present method has the advantage of better scale resolution. The method developed in this article is easy to implement and has been applied to obtain the numerical solutions of the lid driven cavity flow problem governed by the 2D incompressible Navier–Stokes equations using the stream function-vorticity formulation.