graduate

"Optical Airy beams and bullets"

TYPESpecial Seminar - Solid State Institute, Technion
Speaker:Prof. Demetri Christodoulides
Affiliation:CREOL-College of Optics and Photonics, Univ. of Central Florida, U.S.A.
Date:15.06.2011
Time:13:30
Location:Solid State Auditorium(Entrance)
Remark:*Refreshments at 13:15
Abstract:

In recent years, the quest for non-spreading or non-diffracting optical beam configurations has


been motivated by possible  applications in diverse fields ranging from biology to atom optics.


Lately our group has explored the possibility of experimentally realizing non-spreading


accelerating Airy beams in optics. This was done by exploiting the formal analogy between


quantum wave mechanics and paraxial diffraction optics. We have demonstrated, that even


though they are exponentially truncated (thus conveying finite energy), these Airy beams still


exhibit a host of interesting characteristics. More specifically, they resist diffraction while their


main intensity maxima or lobes tend to self-bend and accelerate in free space along parabolic


trajectories. This ballistic behavior persists over long distances in spite of the fact that the center


of gravity of these wavepackets remains constant  (in agreement with Ehrenfest’s  theorem)  and


eventually diffraction takes over. Figure (a) depicts quasi-diffractionless propagation of a finite-


energy Airy beam where its “acceleration” dynamics are apparent. These intriguing properties of


the Airy wavepackets put them in a category by themselves. These beams, in contrast to the


already known families of non-diffracting fields; are possible in one-dimension (excellent


candidates for time applications), do not result from conical superposition, and  are thus  highly


asymmetric. The peculiar features of Airy beams may find applications in near-field microscopy


where their asymmetric intensity pattern could prove advantageous. Particle sorting (via optical


gradient forces) along bent parabolic trajectories may be another fascinating direction.


Here we provide an overview of our recent work on optical Airy beams and bullets. Other


aspects like their self-healing properties or the possibility of generating for the first time spatio-


temporal optical Airy bullets (b) will be also discussed.