Demonstrating Arago-Fresnel laws with Bessel beams from vectorial axicons

Two-dimensional Bessel beams, both vectorial and scalar, have been extensively studied to date, finding many applications. Here we mimic a vectorial axicon to create one-dimensional scalar Bessel beams embedded in a two-dimensional vectorial field. We use a digital micro-mirror device to interfere orthogonal conical waves from a holographic axicon, and study the boundary of scalar and vectorial states in the context of structured light using the Arago-Fresnel laws. We show that the entire field resembles a vectorial combination of parabolic beams, exhibiting dependence on solutions to the inhomogeneous Bessel equation and asymmetry due to the orbital angular momentum associated rotational diffraction. Our work reveals the rich optical processes involved at the interplay between scalar and vectorial interference, opening intriguing questions on the duality, complementarity, and non-separability of vectorial light fields.