Abstract
We present a new type of self-imaging phenomenon: self-imaging along curved trajectories. Unlike the Talbot effect, where self-imaging occurs for periodic wave patterns propagating along a straight line, here the field is generally not periodic and is self-imaged along curved trajectories. In the paraxial regime, self-imaging along a parabolic trajectory can ideally go on indefinitely. In the nonparaxial regime the self-imaging is along a circular trajectory and lasts as long as the beam bends. We demonstrate this accelerating self-imaging effect experimentally, and discuss generalizations to higher dimensions.
- Received 9 March 2015
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.013901
© 2015 American Physical Society