Airy-Talbot plasmon: an accelerating self-imaging surface wave.

In this Letter, a new class of an accelerating self-imaging surface plasmonic wave, the Airy-Talbot plasmon, is introduced for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. Our research shows that such a surface wave propagates at the interface between metal (silver) and a dielectric material (air) and causes a strong interference along curved trajectories, which generates the Talbot effect in the surface. The propagation properties have potential value in nanoscale plasmonic devices. A scheme for generating this novel plasmon theoretically is proposed, and we prove it by finite difference time-domain numerical simulations.

Autofocusing self-imaging: symmetric Pearcey Talbot-like effect.

The Talbot-like effect of symmetric Pearcey beams (SPBs) is presented numerically and experimentally in the free space. Owing to the Talbot-like effect, the SPBs have the property of periodic, multiple autofocusing and self-healing. Meanwhile, the focusing positions and focusing times of SPBs are controlled by the beam shift factor and the distribution factors. Furthermore, the beam shift factor can also affect the Talbot-like effect and the Talbot period. It is believed that the results can diversify the application of the Talbot effect.

Guiding the optical vortex along predesigned parabolic trajectories from circular symmetric Airy-like beams.

In this paper, by phase-modulating an optical wavefront on circular symmetric Airy vortex beams, we present the circular symmetric Airy-like vortex beams propagating along predesigned parabolic trajectories. Our result shows that we can realize the propagation of an optical vortex with a closed ring lobe along an accelerating parabolic trajectory within a certain propagation distance by using this kind of phase-modulated circular symmetric Airy beam. The vortex that is superimposed on the beams is able to reproduce after being blocked. Additionally, a single twisted dark channel or multiple tornado dark channels with orbital angular momentum rotating along the predesigned parabolic trajectories can also be formed when we impose the off-axis optical vortex on this kind of beam, which has potential in applications of light capturing.

Accelerating trajectory manipulation of symmetric Pearcey Gaussian beam in a uniformly moving parabolic potential.

We derive analytical solutions that describe the one-dimensional displaced and chirped symmetric Pearcey Gaussian beam in a uniformly moving parabolic potential. The multiple effective manipulations of the beam, which are originated from the diverse configurations of the dynamic parabolic potential, are demonstrated. On the whole, the accelerating trajectory can transform into a linear superposition form of the oblique straight line and the simple harmonic motion. Meanwhile, we discuss the further modulation of the accelerating trajectory characteristics such as slope, amplitude and phase shift. Additionally, the extension into a two-dimensional scenario is also proposed. Our results theoretically improve the practical value of the Pearcey beam, and lead to potential applications in trajectory manipulation and particle manipulation.

Symmetric Pearcey Gaussian beams.

In this Letter, a new, to the best of our knowledge, type of autofocusing and symmetric beam arisen from two quartic spectral phases is introduced in theory and experiment. The symmetric Pearcey Gaussian beam (SPGB), formed with a Gaussian term and two multiplying Pearcey integrals, processes a focusing intensity approximately 1.32 times stronger than the intensity of the symmetric Airy beam. Its four off-axis main lobes split into four bending trajectories symmetrically after focusing. The rectangular intensity distribution and the focal length of the SPGB can be adjusted by two kinds of distribution factors. Additionally, the vortex-guiding property of the beam is demonstrated by embedding an off-axis vortex into the SPGB, which can be applied in particle guiding.

Multioptical bottles from second-order chirped symmetric Airy vortex beams.

In this Letter, we introduce a new, to the best of our knowledge, structure of multioptical bottles formed by second-order chirped symmetric Airy vortex beams (CSAVBs). The numbers and the locations of the optical bottles embedded in the CSAVBs depend on the numbers and the locations of the vortices. Besides, the lengths and the sizes of the optical bottles could be adjusted by changing the chirp parameter and the topological charges of the vortices, respectively. We believe that our results can diversify the optical tweezers system for multiparticle manipulation.

Auto-focusing and self-healing of symmetric odd-Pearcey Gauss beams.

In this study, a new, to the best of our knowledge, form of odd-Pearcey Gauss beams with peculiar characteristics is presented. Compared with the Pearcey beam, the odd-Pearcey Gauss beam is symmetrical about the origin. At the initial stages, the odd-Pearcey Gauss beam propagates with a main central lobe and some residual spots that autofocus to the center, and then splits into two off-axis parabolic lobes after the autofocus finishes. Furthermore, we also introduce the soft well function to investigate the propagation profiles of the odd-Pearcey Gauss beams passing through it with different calibers and discuss the influence of the Gaussian waist width towards the focal distance and the propagation form of the odd-Pearcey Gauss beam. We also enumerate some potential and possible applications based on its peculiar characteristics.

Radially polarized symmetric Airy beam.

In this Letter, we introduce a new kind of radially polarized beam called the radially polarized symmetric Airy beam (RPSAB). Compared to the linearly polarized symmetric Airy beam (SAB), the hollow focus spot of RPSAB enables it to trap a microparticle whose refractive index is lower than that of the surrounding medium, and the focus intensity of RPSAB is nearly three times higher than that of SAB under the same conditions. Also, we present the on-axis and off-axis radially polarized symmetric Airy vortex beam (RPSAVB). In the on-axis case, we find the maximum intensity of RPSAVB is about two times higher than that of RPSAB. For the off-axis case, we prove that slight misalignment of the vortex and RPSAB enables guiding the vortex into one of the self-accelerating channels, the same as the symmetric Airy vortex beam. Our results may expand the applications of RPSAB in laser cutting, metal processing, nanofocusing, and three-dimensional trapping of metallic Rayleigh particles.

Propagation of the radially polarized Airy vortex beams in uniaxial crystals orthogonal to the optical axis.

We introduce the radially polarized Airy vortex beams (RPAiVBs) and analytically study their propagation in uniaxial crystals orthogonal to the optical axis. We mainly discuss the effects of the vortex and the ratio of the extraordinary index (ne) to the ordinary index (no) on the propagation properties of the RPAiVBs involving the intensity distributions, the maximum intensity, the radiation forces, the trajectory, and the velocity. The RPAiVBs evolve into the beams produced by the x direction electric field (RPAiXVB) and the y direction electric field (RPAiYVB). It is shown that with the increase in the order of the vortex, the maximum intensity and the radiation forces of the RPAiVBs are greatly enhanced; besides, the intensity focusing position of the RPAiVBs is farther. Furthermore, with the ratio of ne to no increasing, the trajectory of the RPAiXVBs is farther from x=0 mm, and the acceleration is bigger in the x-z plane, but they are opposite in the y-z plane.

Propagation properties of autofocusing off-axis hollow vortex Gaussian beams in free space.

By solving the (2 + 1) dimensional Schrödinger equation in free space, we find that the autofocusing off-axis hollow vortex Gaussian beams (HVGBs) are analytically derived for the first time. The off-axis HVGBs can be adjusted by changing the off-axis coordinate (x0,y0) and topological charge n2. In particular, by increasing the off-axis coordinate (x0,y0), the self-focusing intensity can be increased. Besides, the self-focusing property can be more obvious. Furthermore, by increasing the hollow order n1, we can deepen the depth of focus, make the focus position further away, and increase the self-focusing intensity too. We also discuss other propagation properties that are used to enrich the autofocusing off-axis HVGBs, such as Poynting vector, angular momentum, gradient force, and maximum scattering force during propagation.