Observation of concentrating paraxial beams

Andrea Aiello,Luis L Sánchez-Soto,Jaroslav Řeháček,Martin Paúr,Bohumil Stoklasa,Zdeněk Hradil

doi:10.1364/osac.400410

Abstract

We report the first, to the best of our knowledge, observation of concentrating paraxial beams of light in a linear nondispersive medium. We have generated this intriguing class of light beams, recently predicted by one of us, in both one- and two-dimensional configurations. As we demonstrate in our experiments, these concentrating beams display unconventional features, such as the ability to strongly focus in the focal spot of a thin lens like a plane wave, while keeping their total energy finite.

Highlights

Legend says that during the Siege of Syracuse the Greek mathematician Archimedes set the Roman fleet on fire using mirrors that concentrated sunlight upon the ships
We report the first, to the best of our knowledge, observation of concentrating paraxial beams of light in a linear nondispersive medium
We have generated this intriguing class of light beams, recently predicted by one of us, in both one- and two-dimensional configurations

Summary

Introduction

Legend says that during the Siege of Syracuse the Greek mathematician Archimedes set the Roman fleet on fire using mirrors that concentrated sunlight upon the ships. As we demonstrate in our experiments, these concentrating beams display unconventional features, such as the ability to strongly focus in the focal spot of a thin lens like a plane wave, while keeping their total energy finite. That a paraxial plane wave can be concentrated into a pointlike spot of infinite brightness by a thin lens, is a textbook result [6].

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Results

Conclusion