Needle beams and structured space-time wavepackets
Optics
2025-12-04 v1
Abstract
Recent research on needle beams and space-time wavepackets (STWPs) is presented. Quasi-nondiffracting STWPs propagate at stable spatial and temporal localization over extended distances. In a simple model, STWPs are interpreted as being composed of differential needle beams. Simulations indicate that pulsed Bessel-like needle beams can reach higher spectral and temporal homogeneity compared to spatio-spectrally shaped focused Gaussian beams. The interference of femtosecond needle beam arrays leads to nondiffracting self-imaging in space and time. High-speed switching of STWPs with combined optical systems, orbital angular momentum generation with self-torque and other emerging fields of research are addressed
Cite
@article{arxiv.2512.03993,
title = {Needle beams and structured space-time wavepackets},
author = {Ruediger Grunwald and Martin Bock},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.03993},
year = {2025}
}