Fresnel zone plates for reconfigurable atomic waveguides
Abstract
Fresnel zone plates (FZPs), with patterns of m resolution, allow the formation of clean, diffraction-limited foci -- but have a static phase profile. Spatial light modulators (SLMs) allow dynamic control of spatial beam intensity and phase -- but are bulky and currently limited to roughly m pixel sizes and Mega-pixel formats. Here, we present a new `best-of-both' kind of FZP, scalable to large area rings currently incompatible with direct SLM generation. It is equivalent to a plano-convex donut lens, whereby light's local intensity and global phase at the FZP map directly onto the image plane. The same FZP under different SLM illumination can generate: rings and arcs, double-rings, phase windings and ring lattices (or dynamic combinations thereof). The smooth and adaptable near-field waveguide this enables will be ideal for Sagnac interferometry with ultracold atoms.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2604.08518,
title = {Fresnel zone plates for reconfigurable atomic waveguides},
author = {A. M. Pike and A. Dorne and L. Pickering and M. Jamieson and I. T. MacCuish and E. Riis and M. Y. H. Johnson and V. A. Henderson and P. F. Griffin and A. S. Arnold},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.08518},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
9 pages, 5 figures