Pattern Revivals from Fractional Gouy Phases in Structured Light

Abstract

We investigate pattern revivals in specially designed optical structures that combine different transverse modes. In general, the resulting pattern is not preserved under free propagation and gets transformed due to nonsynchronized Gouy phases. However, it is possible to build structures in which the Gouy phases synchronize at specific fractional values, thus recovering the initial pattern at the corresponding longitudinal positions. This effect is illustrated with a radially structured light spot in which the beam energy can be addressed to different positions without the need of intermediate optical components, which can be useful for optical communications and optical tweezing with structured beams.