Abstract
We report the first observation of Airy optical beams. This intriguing class of wave packets, initially predicted by Berry and Balazs in 1979, has been realized in both one- and two-dimensional configurations. As demonstrated in our experiments, these Airy beams can exhibit unusual features such as the ability to remain diffraction-free over long distances while they tend to freely accelerate during propagation.
- Received 15 August 2007
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.213901
©2007 American Physical Society