From Gaussian Beam to Airy Beam - Fundamental Science and Applications

Ping Yu
2016 02 08
University of Missouri
For many years, Gaussian beams have been used in optics since they can be focused into a micrometer-sized spot. For example, in confocal microscopy and multiphoton microscopy a focused Gaussian beam scans the sample to get its microscopic structures. Low-diffraction beam, when being used in the sample detection, has the potential to increase the depth of field (DOF) in three dimensional imaging. For example, Bessel beam has been used to extend the axial DOF in optical coherence tomography. Airy beams are a new kind of low-diffraction beams that exhibit a non-spreading Airy wave packet. Airy beams have an exceptional DOF and a self-healing property; outperform both the Gaussian beam and Bessel beam in a light sheet microscopy. An Airy beam is an accelerating beam whose main lobe remains diffraction-free while the intensity features tend to transversely accelerate during the propagation. In this talk I will present our recent results of using Airy beam in various applications. The Airy beam is generated using a transmissive cubic.