English

Space-time wave packets propagating a kilometer in air

Optics 2022-09-08 v1

Abstract

We report on the diffraction-free propagation of space-time wave packets (STWPs) -- a class of propagation-invariant pulsed beams -- for  ⁣1\sim\!1 km in an open-air laser range in a low-turbulence scenario. Making use of  ⁣100\approx\!100-fs pulses (bandwidth  ⁣25\sim\!25 nm) at a wavelength of  ⁣1\approx\!1 μ\mum, we construct an STWP with a transverse width of  ⁣2\approx\!2 mm that expands to  ⁣3\approx\!3 mm after  ⁣500\sim\!500 m, and another that expands from  ⁣8\approx\!8 mm to  ⁣10\approx\!10 mm after 1 km. The propagation of the STWPs is compared to Gaussian wave packets of the same transverse spatial width and bandwidth. We establish a theoretical model that accounts for the significant factors limiting the STWP propagation distance and suggests the path to further extending this distance.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2209.03309,
  title  = {Space-time wave packets propagating a kilometer in air},
  author = {Layton A. Hall and Miguel A. Romer and Bryan L. Turo and Tina M. Hayward and Rajesh Menon and Ayman F. Abouraddy},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2209.03309},
  year   = {2022}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T00:53:58.546Z