Optical reconstruction of non-diffracting beams via photorefractive holography

Abstract

This work presents the optical reconstruction of non-diffracting beams via photorefractive holography. Optical generation of non-diffracting beams using conventional optical components is difficult and, in some circumstances, unfeasible, as it is the case of wave fields given by superposition of non-diffracting beams, which have been successfully generated through computer-generated holograms reproduced in spatial light modulators. With the photorefractive holography technique, the hologram of a non-diffracting beam is optically constructed (recorded) and reconstructed (read) in a nonlinear photorefractive medium. The experimental realizations of non-diffracting beams (Bessel, Mathieus and Parabolic), the Bessel beam arrays and superposition of co-propagating Bessel beams (Frozen waves) are made in a photorefractive holography setup using a photorefractive Bi12SiO20 (BSO) crystal as the holographic recording medium. The results are in agreement with the theoretical predictions and are presenting excellent prospects for the implementation of this technique in dynamical systems with applications in optics and photonics.