Reduced side-lobe Airy beams
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Updated: May 30, 2026

The Generation of Higher-order Laguerre-Gauss Optical Beams for High-precision Interferometry
Published on: August 12, 2013
1Rocky Mound Engineering, 116 White Pine Court, Macon, Georgia 31216, USA. dsbarwick@cox.net
Abstract:
The primary interest in the finite-energy Airy beam derives from the special properties possessed by the maximum intensity at its central lobe. However, the defining spatial dependence, the Airy function, is an oscillatory function that consists of decaying side lobes. For some applications these side lobes may create deleterious effects. Fortunately, a nonsymmetric apodization of the beam in Fourier space is shown to enhance the central lobe as the side lobes are reduced and clipped. The properties of the central lobe are unaffected over a large proportion of the propagation path.
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