Customizing non-diffracting structured beams

We demonstrate a universal approach to designing and generating non-diffracting structured light beams with arbitrary shapes. Such light beams can be tailored by predefining suitable spectral phases that match the corre-sponding beam shapes in the transverse plane. We develop a practical spectral superposition algorithm to discuss the non-diffracting properties and experimentally confirm our numerical results. Our proposed approach differs from that of classical non-diffracting beams, which are always constructed from wave equation solutions. The various non-diffracting structured beams could help manipulate particles following arbitrary transverse shapes and are likely to give rise to new applications in optical micromachining.(c) 2023 Optica Publishing Group

Automated summary

We propose a universal approach to design and generate non-diffracting structured light beams with arbitrary shapes. A practical spectral superposition algorithm is developed to discuss the non-diffracting properties and experimental results confirm the numerical findings. These structured beams differ from classical non-diffracting beams and have the potential for new applications in optical micromachining.