Generation of nonparaxial self-accelerating beams using pendant droplets

Abstract

We propose and demonstrate the effectual generation and control of nonparaxial self-accelerating beams by using UV-resin pendant droplets. We show that the geometrical shape of the hanging droplets formed as a result of the interplay between surface tension and gravity offers a natural curvature enabling the generation of nonparaxial self-accelerating beams. By simply adjusting the tilt angle of the surface where the droplets reside, a passing light beam is set to propagate along different curved trajectories, bending into large angles with non-diffracting features superior to a conventional Airy beam. Such self-accelerating beams are directly traced experimentally through the scattered light in yeast-cell suspensions, along with extensive ray tracing and numerical simulations. Furthermore, by modifying the shape of uncured pendant resin droplets in real time, we showcase the dynamical trajectory control of the self-accelerating beams. Our scheme and experimental method may be adopted for the droplet-based shaping of other waves such as microfluidic jets and surface acoustic waves.