Maneuvring Airy Beam
Major
Physics
Second Major
Computer Science
Submission Type
Poster
Area of Study or Work
Physics
Faculty Advisor
Gabriel Spalding
Location
CNS Atrium
Start Date
4-13-2024 8:30 AM
End Date
4-13-2024 9:45 AM
Abstract
An Airy beam is a non-diffractive waveform which does not spread out as the beam propagates. That already makes it interesting, but what distinguishes an Airy beam from other non-diffractive waveforms is the appearance of traveling in a parabolic arc as it moves, resulting in the beam that appears to be freely accelerating. Indeed, the phase velocity of the beam does exceed the speed of light. Due to these properties, Airy beams have many proposed applications such as optical micromanipulation, plasma guidance, and vacuum electron acceleration. In this project I aim to set up, observe, record, and measure the characteristics shown by my own variants on the essential character of Airy beams by not only imposing time delays that are cubic in some cartesian coordinates (as has been done by previous researchers), but by examining the consequences of imposing time delays that are cubic in along other symmetries (e.g., radial, and azimuthal polar coordinates). To achieve different symmetries in not only cartesian but also radial and azimuthal polar coordinates, I will utilize a spatial light modulator to impose programmable time delays across more than 2 million different addressable pixels. To measure and map these beams in three dimensions, I plan to use two methods. Direct Imaging which involves capturing conventional camera images, as the camera is moved further and further downstream, building up three-dimensional data sets known as data cubes which can be further analyzed. The second techniques involves interfering the beams I create with simple reference beams, thereby creating holograms of the Airy beam that will allow us to extract information about the local time lags within the beams.
Maneuvring Airy Beam
CNS Atrium
An Airy beam is a non-diffractive waveform which does not spread out as the beam propagates. That already makes it interesting, but what distinguishes an Airy beam from other non-diffractive waveforms is the appearance of traveling in a parabolic arc as it moves, resulting in the beam that appears to be freely accelerating. Indeed, the phase velocity of the beam does exceed the speed of light. Due to these properties, Airy beams have many proposed applications such as optical micromanipulation, plasma guidance, and vacuum electron acceleration. In this project I aim to set up, observe, record, and measure the characteristics shown by my own variants on the essential character of Airy beams by not only imposing time delays that are cubic in some cartesian coordinates (as has been done by previous researchers), but by examining the consequences of imposing time delays that are cubic in along other symmetries (e.g., radial, and azimuthal polar coordinates). To achieve different symmetries in not only cartesian but also radial and azimuthal polar coordinates, I will utilize a spatial light modulator to impose programmable time delays across more than 2 million different addressable pixels. To measure and map these beams in three dimensions, I plan to use two methods. Direct Imaging which involves capturing conventional camera images, as the camera is moved further and further downstream, building up three-dimensional data sets known as data cubes which can be further analyzed. The second techniques involves interfering the beams I create with simple reference beams, thereby creating holograms of the Airy beam that will allow us to extract information about the local time lags within the beams.