Generation and manipulation for high-order catastrophe swallowtail beams

Abstract

We propose a universal method for generating high-order Swallowtail diffraction catastrophe beams, according to diffraction catastrophe theory. The curved caustic structure of Swallowtail beams (SBs) are derived from the potential function. Due to the complexity of the high-order diffraction catastrophe, the SBs can be tuned to various optical structures. Our experimental results are consistent with the numerical simulations, verifying the correctness of the theory. Further, we report a new family of autofocusing circular swallowtail beams (CSBs). Compared with the previous circular Airy and Pearcey beams, due to higher-order diffraction catastrophe, these CSBs have more propagation trajectories, and therefore seem to have more diversity and tunability. The experimental results are in good agreement with the numerical simulations. These various SBs and CSBs could have potential applications in optical trapping, optical manipulation or medical treatment.