Non-diffracting optical fields with a Fourier spectrum azimuthally modulated by a periodic phase function

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Wave Phenomena

Background:

• Non-diffracting fields (NDFs) exhibit unique propagation characteristics.
• Bessel beams are fundamental components of many NDFs.
• Controlling NDF properties is crucial for applications in optical trapping and imaging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze non-diffracting fields (NDFs) with phase-only azimuthal modulation.
• To identify a weak interference regime for controlling NDFs.
• To demonstrate a simple method for NDF feature manipulation.

Main Methods:

• Fourier spectral analysis of phase-only azimuthally modulated NDFs.
• Exploiting the weak interference regime of constituent Bessel beams.
• Experimental generation using sequential double phase modulation on a spatial light modulator.

Main Results:

• Identification of a weak interference regime in NDFs.
• Demonstration of control over NDF features via simple phase modulation.
• Successful generation of NDFs with periodic sinusoidal and binary azimuth phases.

Conclusions:

• A straightforward method for controlling NDF properties is presented.
• The weak interference regime offers a practical approach to NDF manipulation.
• Experimental validation confirms the proposed method's efficacy.