Arbitrary non-paraxial accelerating periodic beams and spherical shaping of light

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the creation of arbitrary non-paraxial accelerating light beams, including spherical-shaped beams, using Fourier optics and spatial light modulators, expanding the possibilities for light shaping in three dimensions.

Contribution

It introduces a non-paraxial design method for arbitrary accelerating beams and experimentally synthesizes spherical and periodic beams with complex trajectories.

Findings

Successfully generated circular and Weber beams over 95° arc

Created periodic snake-like accelerating beams

First experimental realization of spherical surface accelerating beams

Abstract

We report the observation of arbitrary accelerating beams designed using a non-paraxial description of optical caustics. We use a spatial light modulator-based setup and techniques of Fourier optics to generate circular and Weber beams subtending over 95 degrees of arc. Applying a complementary binary mask also allows the generation of periodic accelerating beams taking the forms of snake-like trajectories, and the application of a rotation to the caustic allows the first experimental synthesis of optical accelerating beams upon the surface of a sphere in three dimensions.