Theoretical conversion of the hypergeometric-Gaussian beams family into a high-order spiraling Bessel beams by a curved fork-shaped hologram

Based on the process of the Fresnel diffraction, the possibility of generating a new type of laser beams family by illuminating a curved fork-shaped hologram, with an input hypergeometric-Gaussian beams family of orders n and m is studied in this paper. The theoretical and the numerical results showed that, at the output plane, a high order spiraling Bessel vortex beam is produced. This vortex beam is divergence or non-divergence depending upon the waist position of the input hypergeometric-Gaussian beams, regarding the plane where the curved fork-shaped hologram is situated. Analytical expressions of the amplitude and the intensity distribution of the diffracted wave field are calculated and deduced using the stationary phase method. The actual work generalizes also the Fresnel diffraction study of some subfamilies of the hypergeometric-Gaussian beams family, such as: fundamental Gaussian, hollow Gaussian, modified quadratic Bessel–Gaussian and elegant Laguerre–Gaussian beams.     

Generation of spiraling high-order Bessel beams

Spiraling Bessel beams of arbitrary order are created by illuminating an apertured axicon and a hologram with a single-ringed Laguerre–Gaussian beam. The high-order beam rotates around the propagating axis with a hollow center and can be regarded as the hollow spiraling beam. Such beams have distinct advantages, which offer a direct method for micro-fabrication applications, especially for cold atom guiding, due to their inherent central hollow region and their non-diffracting feature.     

Generalization and propagation of spiraling Bessel beams with a helical axicon

A generalized type of spiral Bessel beam has been demonstrated by using a spatially displaced helical axicon (HA).The topological charge of the spiraling Bessel beams is determined by the order of the input Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beam and the topological charge of the HA.The obtained spiraling Bessel beams have an LG type of modulation along their propagation direction and exhibit annihilation-reconstruction properties.Theoretical analysis is presented,including that of the stability,propagation distance,topological charge,and spiraling dynamic characteristics.The mathematical and numerical results show that the propagation distance and helical revolution of the spiraling Bessel beams can be controlled through choosing appropriate radius of the HA.     

Generalization and propagation of spiraling Bessel beams with a helical axicon

A generalized type of spiral Bessel beam has been demonstrated by using a spatially displaced helical axicon (HA). The topological charge of the spiraling Bessel beams is determined by the order of the input Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beam and the topological charge of the HA. The obtained spiraling Bessel beams have an LG type of modulation along their propagation direction and exhibit annihilation-reconstruction properties. Theoretical analysis is presented, including that of the stability, propagation distance, topological charge, and spiraling dynamic characteristics. The mathematical and numerical results show that the propagation distance and helical revolution of the spiraling Bessel beams can be controlled through choosing appropriate radius of the HA.     

Generation of femtosecond Bessel beams with microaxicon arrays

Multiple quasi-Bessel beams are generated by transmission of sub-30-fs pulses from a Ti:sapphire laser through refractive thin-film microaxicon arrays. Time-integrated intensity distributions at several axial positions and for pulse durations of 26 and 12.5 fs reveal significant changes of contrast, envelope function, and spatial frequency spectrum in comparison with continuous wave data. Evidence is presented that strong space-time coupling results in a time-dependent interference zone.     

Area scintillations of Bessel Gaussian and modified Bessel Gaussian beams of zeroth order

As an extension of our previous study, the area scintillation aspects of Bessel Gaussian and modified Bessel Gaussian beams of zeroth order are investigated. The analysis is carried out on the basis of equal source sizes and equal source powers. It is found that, when compared on equal source size basis, modified Bessel Gaussian beams always have less area scintillations than a Gaussian beam, while Bessel Gaussian beams exhibit more area scintillations. Comparison on equal source power basis, however, removes the advantage of modified Bessel Gaussian beams, that is, their area scintillations become nearly the same as those of the Gaussian beam. On the other hand, for the case of equal source powers, Bessel Gaussian beams with larger width parameters continue to have higher area scintillations than the Gaussian beam. We provide graphical illustrations for profiles of equal source size beams, equal source power beams and the curves to aid the selection of equal source power beams.     

Generation of nondiffracting Bessel beams by use of a spatial light modulator

A laser beam with phase singularities is an interesting object to study in optics and may have important applications in guiding atoms and molecules. We explore the characteristics of a singularity in a nondiffracting Bessel beam experimentally by use of a programmable spatial light modulator with 64-level phase holograms. The diffraction efficiency with 64-level phase holograms is greatly improved in comparison with that obtained with a binary grating. The experiments show that the size and deflection angle of the beam can be controlled in real time. The observations are in agreement with scalar diffraction theory.     

Propagation of higher order Bessel–Gaussian beams in turbulence

The propagation characteristics of higher order Bessel–Gaussian beams travelling in turbulent atmosphere are investigated. Using extended Huygens–Fresnel principle, I formulated receiver plane intensity and solved it down to a double integral stage. Source beam plots are made illustrating the variation of intensity against order and width parameter. From the examination of receiver intensity graphs, it is seen that Bessel–Gaussian beam are converted into modified Bessel–Gaussian beams at intermediate propagation ranges eventually ending up as Gaussian profiles. The impacts of order and turbulence levels on beam profile are analysed. Focusing effects and beam size change along the propagation axis are studied. PACS 41.85.Ew; 42.68.Bz     

Generation of optical vortex light beams by volume holograms with embedded phase singularity

Special features of the optical-vortex (OV) beams generated by thick holographic elements (HE) with embedded phase singularity are considered theoretically. The volume HE structure is based on the 3D pattern of interference between an OV beam and a standard reference wave with regular wavefront. The incident beam diffraction is described within the framework of a linear single-scattering model in which the volume HE is represented by a set of parallel thin layers with the “fork” holographic structure. An explicit integral expression is derived for the complex amplitude distribution of the diffracted paraxial beam with OV. The numerical analysis demonstrates that the HE thickness may essentially influence not only selectivity and efficiency of the OV beam generation but also the amplitude and phase profile of the diffracted beam as well as regularities of its propagation. We have studied the generated OV morphology and laws of its evolution; in particular, the possibility of obtaining a circularly symmetric OV beam regardless of the diffraction angle is revealed.     

Generation of extreme ultraviolet vortex beams using computer generated holograms

We fabricate computer generated holograms for the generation of phase singularities at extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths using electron beam lithography and demonstrate their ability to generate optical vortices in the nonzero diffraction orders. To this end, we observe the characteristic intensity distribution of the vortex beam and verify the helical phase structure interferometrically. The presented method forms the basis for further studies on singular light fields in the EUV frequency range, i.e., in EUV interference lithography. Since the method is purely achromatic, it may also find applications in various fields of x ray optics.     

Generation and amplification of pulsed Bessel beams by seeding an optical parametric amplifier

By using two very different seed pulses we demonstrate that the spatiotemporal gain properties of a chi(2) optical parametric amplifier can be exploited as an efficient conical reshaping mechanism leading to the generation and amplification of a pulsed Bessel beam.     

Directionality of generalized acoustic sensors of arbitrary order

For several decades there has been a great deal of interest in acoustic sensors that can make multiple measurements at a single point in the ocean. The order of such sensors has been defined by linking it to the order of the Taylor series approximation of the pressure field at that point. Following this definition, the pressure, vector, and dyadic sensor is of order zero, one, and two, respectively. For this theoretical study, a multichannel three-dimensional spatial filter is derived for a directional acoustic sensor of arbitrary order. Explicit formulas are found for the filter coefficients that maximize the array gain (directivity index) of the filter as well as an explicit expression for the maximum array gain (directivity index). This process is repeated for the case of a first-order null placed in the direction opposite to the look direction of the multichannel filter. Finally, an example is presented which tracks the array gain and beamwidth of a third-order acoustic sensor as the order of the null is assigned values 0, 1, 2, and 3.     

Generation of TE- and TH-polarized Bessel beams using one-dimensional photonic crystal

Based on the matrix method, a theory of propagation of TE- and TH-polarized Bessel light beams (BLBs) in a one-dimensional photonic crystal (1DPC) is developed. The transmission through a 1DPC (with and without a defect impurity) of a quasi-circularly-polarized incident Bessel beam generated by an axicon from a circularly-polarized Gaussian beam has been calculated and analyzed. Also a solution of the problem on the transmission of BLBs through crystalline plate (layer of a uniaxial crystal with the orientation of the optical axis orthogonally to its interfaces) and reflection from it has been presented.Based on this, a new method of formation of TE- and TH-polarized Bessel light beams has been proposed. It has been shown that it is possible to control this process by changing the cone angle of an incident Bessel light beam. The effect of generation of a coherent superposition of two Bessel beams with different cone angles in the case of a high birefringence of defect layer has been predicted theoretically.     

Generation of high quality tunable Bessel beams using a liquid-immersion axicon

By immersing a conventional glass axicon in index-matching liquid, we generated high quality, tunable, quasi-non-diffracting Bessel beams. The aberrations resulting from the roundness of the axicon tip are minimized when a large base angle is used in liquid-immersion. This configuration also allows coarse and fine tunability through changing the liquid and adjusting the temperature, respectively. Our experimental results match very well with calculated intensity profiles. We succeeded to generate two-meter long plasma channels in air by focusing femtosecond laser pulses with the liquid-immersion axicon.     

Conversion of high-order Laguerre-Gaussian beams into Bessel beams of increased, reduced or zeroth order by use of a helical axicon

We propose a new method for transformation of a Laguerre-Gaussian beam of azimuthal index l and radial index n = 0 (LG_l,0) into a vortex, diverging or nondiverging Bessel beam, which can have increased or decreased phase singularity order, or into a zeroth order Bessel beam, by means of a helical axicon. The Bessel beam divergence or nondivergence depends upon the waist position of the input Laguerre-Gaussian beam, regarding the plane where the helical axicon is situated.The expressions for the amplitude and the intensity distribution of the diffracted wave field, in the process of Fresnel diffraction, are deduced using the stationary phase method. The theoretical analysis for the vortex radius and the maximum propagation distance of the Bessel beams obtained is presented.     

Transformation of optical-vortex beams by holograms with embedded phase singularity

Spatial characteristics of diffracted beams produced by the “fork” holograms from incident circular Laguerre-Gaussian modes are studied theoretically. The complex amplitude distribution of a diffracted beam is described by models of the Kummer beam or of the hypergeometric-Gaussian beam. Physically, in most cases its structure is formed under the influence of the divergent spherical wave originating from the discontinuity caused by the hologram’s groove bifurcation. Presence of this wave is manifested by the ripple structure in the near-field beam pattern and by the power-law amplitude decay at the beam periphery. Conditions when the divergent wave is not excited are discussed.The diffracted beam carries a screw wavefront dislocation (optical vortex) whose order equals to algebraic sum of the incident beam azimuthal index and the topological charge of the singularity imparted by the hologram. The input beam singularity can be healed when the above sum is zero. In such cases the diffracted beam can provide better energy concentration in the central intensity peak than the Gaussian beam whose initial distribution coincides with the Gaussian envelope of the incident beam. Applications are possible for generation of optical-vortex beams with prescribed properties and for analyzing the optical-vortex beams in problems of information processing.     

Bessel beams: Effects of polarization

An approximation to a Bessel beam produced by tightly focusing linearly polarized light is known to produce a smaller central lobe than focusing plane polarized light. This is because the plane polarized wave gives a broad central lobe caused mainly by a parasitic longitudinal field component. It is known that this problem can be overcome by focusing radially polarized light. Here we demonstrate that other polarization distributions based on a linear combination of transverse electric (TE1) and transverse magnetic (TM1) fields can give a beam even narrower than for the radially polarized case. Special cases of this combination are identified, corresponding to the smallest width (TE1), and the maximum peak intensity compared with the side lobes (electric dipole polarization). Axially-symmetric forms can be generated by illumination with elliptically polarized light. A particular case is azimuthal polarization with a phase singularity, which is equivalent to TE1. For a semi-angular aperture of 60°, the TE1 case gives a central lobe width 9% narrower than for radially polarized illumination, while for plane polarized illumination it is 12% wider than the radially polarized case.