Self-imaging, self-healing beams generated by photorefractive volume holography

• Main Authors: Manigo, Jonathan P, Guerrero, Raphael A
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2015
• Subjects: Bessel beams; Volume holography; Holography; Holograms; Beam propagation method; Wave propagation; Crystals; Beam shaping; Laser crystals; Axicons; Optics; Physics
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/physics-faculty-pubs/1; https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/journals/Optical-Engineering/volume-54/issue-10/104113/Self-imaging-self-healing-beams-generated-by-photorefractive-volume-holography/10.1117/1.OE.54.10.104113.short?SSO=1
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

Self-imaging beams consisting of three-dimensional intensity voids are generated via photorefractive volume holography. Reconstruction of a volume hologram recorded at 594 nm is performed with a Bessel readout beam. The holographic output is similar in appearance to a Bessel beam, with the central spot oscillating between maximum and zero intensity over a propagation distance of 10 to 55 cm. The oscillation period for the on-axis intensity is 30 cm. The reconstruction is capable of self-healing, with a fully recovered central core after the beam propagates 40 cm. Dual-wavelength reconstruction at 632.8 nm produces an output beam with similar self-imaging and self-healing properties. A theoretical framework based on the interference of a plane wave and a Bessel beam simultaneously reconstructed from a volume hologram is able to describe our experimental results.