Periodic self-accelerating beams by combined phase and amplitude modulation in the Fourier space

Flexible trajectory control of Bessel beams with pure phase modulation

Spatial phase modulation has become an important method for the design of new self-accelerating light beams. Based on the transverse-longitudinal mapping of Bessel beam, we propose a method of pure phase modulation to directly convert a zero-order Bessel beam into a self-accelerating beam, of which the propagation trajectories can be flexibly predesigned. We experimentally demonstrate three typical types of curves that the modulated Bessel beam propagates along, and the parabolic, spiral, and teleporting self-accelarating beams are realized. The experimental results match the expected trajectory well. This method is simple to operate, and imposes fewer restrictions on the beam trajectory.

Swallowtail-type diffraction catastrophe beams

We demonstrate a universal approach for generating high-order diffraction catastrophe beams, specifically for Swallowtail-type beams (abbreviated as Swallowtail beams), using diffraction catastrophe theory that was defined by potential functions depending on the control and state parameters. The three-dimensional curved caustic surfaces of these Swallowtail catastrophe beams are derived by the potential functions. Such beams are generated by mapping the cross sections of the high-order control parameter space to the corresponding transverse plane. Owing to the flexibility of the high-order diffraction catastrophe, these Swallowtail beams can be tuned to a diverse range of optical light structures. Owing to the similarity in their frequency spectra, we found that the Swallowtail beams change into low-order Pearcey beams under given conditions during propagation. Our experimental results are in close agreement with our simulated results. Such fantastic catastrophe beams that can propagate along curved trajectories are likely to give rise to new applications in micromachining and optical manipulation, furthermore, these diverse caustic beams will pave the way for the tailoring of arbitrarily accelerating caustic beams.

Abruptly autofocusing circular swallowtail beams

In this Letter, to the best of our knowledge, we report the first experimental demonstration of a new family of autofocusing beams, circular swallowtail beams (CSBs), based on the high-order swallowtail catastrophe, which were determined by potential functions depending on the state and control parameters. The dynamics of the CSBs is discussed here. These types of CSBs tend to automatically focus without external components. Numerical results showed the focal intensity increased significantly, and it was as much as 110 times in the initial plane when the radius of the main ring was 40. Additionally, in contrast to previous circular Pearcey and Airy beams, these CSBs appeared to have more diversity and tunability due to having more propagation trajectories and intensity distribution structures due to high-order diffraction catastrophe. The numerical simulations were verified by our experimental results. These diverse CSBs could have new applications in flexible optical manipulation. These various CSBs could be beneficial for potential applications in optical trapping, medical treatment, or micromachining.

Free-space data-carrying bendable light communications

Bendable light beams have recently seen tremendous applications in optical manipulation, optical imaging, optical routing, micromachining, plasma generation and nonlinear optics. By exploiting curved light beams instead of traditional Gaussian beam for line-of-sight light communications, here we propose and demonstrate the viability of free-space data-carrying bendable light communications along arbitrary trajectories with multiple functionalities. By employing 39.06-Gbit/s 32-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (32-QAM) discrete multi-tone (DMT) signal, we demonstrate free-space bendable light intensity modulated direct detection (IM-DD) communication system under 3 different curved light paths. Moreover, we characterize multiple functionalities of free-space bendable light communications, including bypass obstructions transmission, self-healing transmission, self-broken trajectory transmission, and multi-receiver transmission. The observed results indicate that bendable light beams can make free-space optical communications more flexible, more robust and more multifunctional. The demonstrations may open a door to explore more special light beams enabling advanced free-space light communications with enhanced flexibility, robustness and functionality.

Generation of spirally accelerating optical beams

We developed a generalized spectral phase superposition approach for generating accelerating optical beams along arbitrary trajectories. Such beams can be customized by predefining an appropriate superimposed phase pattern that consists of multiple sub-phases. We generated a spirally accelerating beam in a three-dimensional space and developed an algorithm to improve the uniformity of the intensity along the trajectory by introducing phase-shift factors. We also experimentally verified our numerical simulations. The proposed approach breaks the conventional convex trajectory restrictions. These various accelerating beams would pave the way for optically moving particles along a desired trajectory. The generation of such arbitrary accelerating beams is likely to give rise to new applications in flexible optical manipulation, wave front control, and optical transportation and guidance of particles.

Nonsymmetric curved beams within a symmetric caustic skeleton

Nonsymmetric curved beams having a symmetric caustic skeleton are presented. They arise from a finite jump in the symmetric spectral phase that breaks the symmetry of the beam intensity without altering its associated caustic curve. These nonsymmetric beams can be represented as a superposition of two caustic beams whose wave fields have well-defined even and odd symmetries with weight coefficients dependent on the phase jump. In this approach, the phase jump acts as a measure of the beam asymmetry degree that can be easily controlled in experiments. This scheme is a promising step towards optical cryptography and quantum optics applications.

Independent amplitude and trajectory/beam-width control of nonparaxial beams

We show that it is possible to generate non-paraxial optical beams with pre-engineered trajectories and designed maximum amplitude along these trajectories. The independent control of these two degrees of freedom is made possible by engineering both the amplitude and the phase of the optical wave on the input plane. Furthermore, we come to the elegant conclusion that the beam width depends solely on the local curvature of the trajectory. Thus, we can generate beams with pre-defined amplitude and beam-width by appropriately selecting the local curvature. Our theoretical results are in excellent agreement with numerical simulations. We discuss about methods that can be utilized to experimentally generate such beam. Our work might be useful in applications where precise beam control is important such as particle manipulation, filamentation, and micromachining.

Improved intrapulse raman scattering control via asymmetric airy pulses

We experimentally demonstrate the possibility of tuning the frequency of a laser pulse via the use of an Airy pulse-seeded soliton self-frequency shift. The intrinsically asymmetric nature of Airy pulses, typically featured by either leading or trailing oscillatory tails (relatively to the main lobe), is revealed through the nonlinear generation of both a primary and a secondary Raman soliton self-frequency shift, a phenomenon which is driven by the soliton fission processes. The resulting frequency shift can be carefully controlled by using time-reversed Airy pulses or, alternatively, by applying an offset to the cubic phase modulation used to generate the pulses. When compared with the use of conventional chirped Gaussian pulses, our technique brings about unique advantages in terms of both efficient frequency tuning and feasibility, along with the generation and control of multicolor Raman solitons with enhanced tunability. Our theoretical analysis agrees well with our experimental observations.

Loss-proof self-accelerating beams and their use in non-paraxial manipulation of particles' trajectories

Self-accelerating beams--shape-preserving bending beams--are attracting great interest, offering applications in many areas such as particle micromanipulation, microscopy, induction of plasma channels, surface plasmons, laser machining, nonlinear frequency conversion and electron beams. Most of these applications involve light-matter interactions, hence their propagation range is limited by absorption. We propose loss-proof accelerating beams that overcome linear and nonlinear losses. These beams, as analytic solutions of Maxwell's equations with losses, propagate in absorbing media while maintaining their peak intensity. While the power such beams carry decays during propagation, the peak intensity and the structure of their main lobe region are maintained over large distances. We use these beams for manipulation of particles in fluids, steering the particles to steeper angles than ever demonstrated. Such beams offer many additional applications, such as loss-proof self-bending plasmons. In transparent media these beams show exponential intensity growth, which facilitates other novel applications in micromanipulation and ignition of nonlinear processes.

Optical Bloch oscillations of an Airy beam in a photonic lattice with a linear transverse index gradient

We theoretically report the existence of optical Bloch oscillations (BO) of an Airy beam in a one-dimensional optically induced photonic lattice with a linear transverse index gradient. The Airy beam experiencing optical BO shows a more robust non-diffracting feature than its counterparts in free space or in a uniform photonic lattice. Interestingly, a periodical recurrence of Airy shape accompanied with constant alternation of its acceleration direction is also found during the BO. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the period and amplitude of BO of an Airy beam can be readily controlled over a wide range by varying the index gradient and/or the lattice period. Exploiting these features, we propose a scheme to rout an Airy beam to a predefined output channel without losing its characteristics by longitudinally modulating the transverse index gradient.