Propagation properties of the circular Airy beam with a Gaussian envelope in Fourier space

Abstract

We theoretically and experimentally study the propagation properties of the circular Airy beam (CAB) with a Gaussian envelope in Fourier space. The two parameters of the Gaussian function can be used to control the distribution of the spatial frequency, and thus to tune the propagation properties of this modified CAB. When the two parameters are chosen appropriately, the size of focal spot will be reduced, the maximum focal intensity and especially the abruptly autofocusing property will be greatly enhanced. Meanwhile, the focal position can remain almost the same with the common CAB. The experimental results show that the proposed beam can be generated conveniently by using the same Fourier transform method as used to generate the common CAB.