Bending space-time wave packets

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Wave Propagation

Background:

• Asymmetric optical beams like Airy beams exhibit curved trajectories.
• Controlling beam propagation is crucial for various optical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate self-accelerating, diffraction-free optical beams with symmetric profiles.
• To achieve arbitrary power-law curved trajectories for optical pulses.

Main Methods:

• Sculpting the spatiotemporal spectrum of optical pulses.
• Utilizing propagation-invariant space-time wave packets (STWPs).
• Modifying spectral domain tilts to control trajectory curvature.

Main Results:

• Realized symmetric, self-accelerating STWPs that are diffraction-free.
• Demonstrated beams traveling along linear, quadratic, cubic, and square-root power-law trajectories.
• Acceleration rate was independent of the beam's spatial scale.

Conclusions:

• Novel bending STWPs with symmetric profiles were successfully created.
• These beams offer precise control over light's curved path.
• Opens new avenues for target-avoidance with electromagnetic waves.