In this letter, we introduce a new class of light beam, the circular symmetric Airy beam (CSAB), which arises from the extensions of the one dimensional (1D) spectrum of Airy beam from rectangular coordinates to cylindrical ones. The CSAB propagates at initial stages with a single central lobe that autofocuses and then defocuses into the multi-rings structure. Then, these multi-rings perform the outward accelerations during the propagation. That means the CSAB has the inverse propagation of the abruptly autofocusing Airy beam. Besides, the propagation features of the circular symmetric Airy vortex beam (CSAVB) also have been investigated in detail. Our results offer a complementary tool with respect to the abruptly autofocusing Airy beam for practical applications.
Abruptly autofocusing waves and associated ring-Airy (RA) beams are attracting increasing interest owing to their fascinating properties such as their ability of abruptly autofocusing to small F-number. Optical frequency conversion via nonlinear interactions can further expand their applications to new area, yet are rarely studied. In this work, we report the frequency conversion of RA beams via sum-frequency generation using perfect flattop and common Gauss beams as the pump beams. The nonlinear transformation of the spatial complex amplitude of the signal and associated influences on autofoc…
We study nonparaxial autofocusing beams with pre-engineered trajectories. We consider the case of linearly polarized electric optical beams and examine their focusing properties such as contrast, beam width, and numerical aperture. Such beams are associated with larger intensity contrasts, can focus at smaller distances, and have smaller spot sizes as compared to the paraxial regime.
We demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally that the harmonics from abruptly auto-focusing ring-Airy beams present a surprising property, they preserve the phase distribution of the fundamental beam. Consequently, this "phase memory" inherits to the harmonics the abrupt autofocusing behavior, while, under certain conditions, their foci coincide in space with the one of the fundamental. Experiments agree well with our theoretical estimates and detailed numerical calculations. Our findings open the way for the use of such beams and their harmonics in strong field science.
We show that it is possible to independently control both the trajectory and the maximum amplitude along the trajectory of a paraxial accelerating beam. This is accomplished by carefully engineering both the amplitude and the phase of the beam on the input plane. Furthermore, we show that the width of an accelerating beam is related only on the curvature of the trajectory. Therefore, we are able to produce beams with predefined beam widths and amplitudes. These results are useful in applications where precise beam control is important. In addition we consider radially symmetric abruptly autofo…
We investigate controllable spatial modulation of circular autofocusing Airy beams, under action of different dynamic linear potentials, both theoretically and numerically. We introduce a novel treatment method in which the circular Airy beam is represented as a superposition of narrow azimuthally-modulated one-dimensional Airy beams that can be analytically treated. The dynamic linear potentials are appropriately designed, so that the autofocusing effect can either be weakened or even eliminated when the linear potential exerts a "pulling" effect on the beam, or if the linear potential exerts…
We introduce axisymmetric Airy-Gaussian vortex beams in a model of an optical system based on the (2+1)-dimensional fractional Schrödinger equation, characterized by its Lévy index (LI). By means of numerical methods, we explore propagation dynamics of the beams with vorticities from 0 to 4. The propagation leads to abrupt autofocusing, followed by its reversal (rebound from the center). It is shown that LI, the relative width of the Airy and Gaussian factors, and the vorticity determine properties of the autofocusing dynamics, including the focusing distance, radius of the focal light spot, a…
We address the propagation of vortex beams with the circular Airy-Gaussian shape in a (2+1)-dimensional optical waveguide modeled by the fractional nonlinear Schrodinger equation. Systematic analysis of autofocusing of the beams reveals a strongly non-monotonous dependence of the peak intensity in the focal plane on the corresponding Levy index, with a strong maximum at alpha =1.4. Effects of the nonlinearity strength, the ratio of widths of the Airy and Gaussian factors in the input, as well as the beam vorticity, on the autofocusing dynamics are explored. In particular, multiple autofocusing…
According to Rytov approximation theory, we derive the analytical expression of the detection probability of the autofocusing Airy beam (AAB) with powerexponent-phase carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) mode, AAB-PEPV. We analyze the influence of oceanic turbulence on the propagation characteristics of the AAB-PEPV. The results show that the AAB-PEPV beam has a higher detection probability at the receiver when the anisotropic ocean turbulence has a larger unit mass fluid dynamic energy dissipation rate, a larger internal ratio factor, and a higher anisotropy factor. At the same time, the d…
We have investigated the propagation dynamics of the circular Airy Gaussian vortex beams (CAGVBs) in a (2+1)-dimesional optical system discribed by fractional nonlinear Schrödinger equation (FNSE). By combining fractional diffraction with nonlinear effects, the abruptly autofocusing effect becomes weaker, the radius of the focusing beams becomes bigger and the autofocusing length will be shorter with increase of fractional diffraction Lévy index. It has been found that the abruptly autofocusing effect becomes weaker and the abruptly autofocusing length becomes longer if distribution factor of …
Complex vector modes represent a general state of light nonseparable in their spatial and polarization degrees of freedom, which have inspired a wide variety of novel applications and phenomena, such as their unexpected propagation behaviour. For example, they can propagate describing periodic polarization transitions, changing from one vector beam to another. Here, we put forward a novel class of vector modes with the capability to experience an abruptly autofocusing behaviour. To achieve such beams, we encode the spatial degree of freedom in the Circular Airy Gaussian vortex (CAGV) beams. We…
We analyze the propagation dynamics of radially polarized symmetric Airy beams (R-SABs) in a (2+1)-dimensional optical system with fractional diffraction, modeled by the fractional Schrödinger equation (FSE) characterized by the Lévy index. The autofocusing effect featured by such beams becomes stronger, while the focal length becomes shorter, with the increase of . The effect of the intrinsic vorticity on the autofocusing dynamics of the beams is considered too. Then, the ability of R-SABs to capture nano-particles by means of radiation forces is explored, and multiple capture positions emerg…
In this work, we present the experimental optical trap of microparticles with an Airy beams array using a holographic optical tweezers. The Airy beams array are attractive for optical manipulation of particles owing to their non--diffracting and autofocusing properties. An Airy beams array is composed of N Airy beams which accelerate mutually and symmetrically in opposite direction, for different ballistic trajectories, that is, with different initial launch angles. Based on this, we developed a holographic optical tweezers system for the generation of non-diffracting beams and with it, we inv…
We show that light spiraling like a tornado can be generated by superimposing abruptly auto-focusing ring-Airy beams that carry orbital angular momentum of opposite handedness. With different parabolic propagation trajectories, the superimposing ring-Airy beams are tailored to abruptly auto-focus at overlapping focal regions. This results to a complex wave with intense lobes that twist and shrink in an accelerating fashion along propagation. By achieving angular acceleration values that exceed 295 rad\mm^2, these Tornado waves can find numerous applications in laser trapping, direct laser writ…
Airy beams are solutions to the paraxial Helmholtz equation known for exhibiting shape invariance along their self-accelerated propagation in free space. These two properties are associated with the fact that they are not square integrable, that is, they carry infinite energy. To circumvent this drawback, families of so-called finite-energy Airy-type beams have been proposed in the literature and, in some cases, also implemented in the laboratory. Here an analysis of the propagation of this type of structured light beams is presented from a flux trajectory perspective with the purpose to bette…
Evolutions of ring Airy vortex beam and ring Pearcey vortex beam in turbulent atmosphere and a comparative analysis of their channel efficiencies and OAM spectra