Controlling self-healing of optical field based on moiré dual-microlens arrays

Abstract

Optical self-healing is a repairing phenomenon of a beam in the propagation, as it is perturbed by an opaque object. In this work, we demonstrate experimentally and theoretically that the moiré distributed dual-microlens array enables to generate optical fields with better healing ability to withstand defects than their counterparts of a single microlens array. By utilizing the double parameter scanning method, the self-healing degree of the optical field is significantly affected by both the interval distance and the relative angle of the dual-microlens arrays. The self-healing level is decreased significantly by lengthening the interval between the two microlens array with a small twist angle, while increasing the angle enhances the self-healing degree. Further study manifests the self-healing process with respect to the size and central location of the obstacle. The research results provide a simple and effective method to generate self-healing optical wave fields, which have potential applications including optical communication, assisted imaging technology, and even intense laser physics.