Linear and nonlinear control of ballistic trajectory of airy beams

Yi Hu; Peng Zhang; Simon Huang; Cibo Lou; Jingjun Xu; Zhigang Chen

doi:10.1117/12.861560

2 August 2010 Linear and nonlinear control of ballistic trajectory of airy beams

Yi Hu, Peng Zhang, Simon Huang, Cibo Lou, Jingjun Xu, Zhigang Chen

Proceedings Volume 7782, The Nature of Light: Light in Nature III; 778207 (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.861560
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2010, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

We demonstrate linear and nonlinear control of the ballistic trajectory of an optical beam. Such control is realized by sending a Gaussian beam into a phase mask and then turn it into an accelerating Airy beam. We show how an optical beam can be set into motion in a general ballistic trajectory, while the range and height of the trajectory can be controlled at ease. In addition, we study linear propagation of deformed Airy beams in free space by varying the angle between two "wings", which leads to wing flipping and change in acceleration. Finally, we demonstrate nonlinear control of two-dimensional Airy beams with self-focusing and self-defocusing nonlinearities, and found that the Airy beams initially driven by a self-defocusing nonlinearity exhibit anomalous diffraction and can be more robust as compared to those driven by a self-focusing nonlinearity. Our results bring about a possibility to send an intense laser beam into any desired location, passing through disordered media and getting over obstacles.

Citation Download Citation

Yi Hu, Peng Zhang, Simon Huang, Cibo Lou, Jingjun Xu, and Zhigang Chen "Linear and nonlinear control of ballistic trajectory of airy beams", Proc. SPIE 7782, The Nature of Light: Light in Nature III, 778207 (2 August 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.861560

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