Abruptly autofocusing vortex beams.
We generate abruptly autofocusing beams that produce vortices at the focus. We give explicit equations for the phase-only Fourier masks that generate these beams including explanations for controlling the focal distance and numerical aperture. We show experimental results for the focal distance, the vortex pattern and show that the diameter of the focused beam can be made smaller than the size of a comparable Airy beam from a lens. Finally we show how to move the focus spot in three dimensions by encoding additional optical elements onto the phase pattern.
Department of Physics, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182-1233, USA. jdavis@sciences.sdsu.edu
Jeffrey A
JA
Davis
Don M
DM
Cottrell
David
D
Sand