title: Generation and propagation of a sine-azimuthal wavefront modulated Gaussian beam.
abstract: We introduce a method for modulating the Gaussian beam by means of sine-azimuthal wavefront and carry out the experimental generation. The analytical propagation formula of such a beam passing through a paraxial ABCD optical system is derived, by which the intensity properties of the sine-azimuthal wavefront modulated Gaussian (SWMG) beam are examined both theoretically and experimentally. Both of the experimental and theoretical results show that the SWMG beam goes through the process from beam splitting to a Gaussian-like profile, which is closely determined by the phase factor and the propagation distance. Appropriate phase factor and short distance are helpful for the splitting of beam. However, in the cases of large phase factor and focal plane, the intensity distributions tend to take a Gaussian form. Such unique features may be of importance in particle trapping and medical applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.
authors.forename: Guanming
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lao
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.
authors.forename: Zhaohui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.
authors.forename: Meilan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.
authors.forename: Daomu
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhao