Generation of Non-Rayleigh Nondiffracting Speckles

Optical speckle fields with both non-Rayleigh statistics and nondiffracting characteristics in propagation are an important light source for many applications. However, tailoring either non-Rayleigh statistical speckles or nondiffracting speckles are only investigated independently in previous studies. Here, we report the first observation of optical speckles that remain diffraction-free over a long axial distance while keeping non-Rayleigh statistics simultaneously. We further show the enhancement of Anderson localization of light with the non-Rayleigh nondiffracting speckles. The work presented here provides a versatile framework for customizing optical fields with desired speckle patterns for applications in the fields of solid-state physics, cold atoms, and optical imaging.