Abstract

We investigate the propagation dynamics of accelerating beams that are shape-preserving solutions of the Maxwell equations, and explore the contribution of their evanescent field components in detail. Both apodized and nonapodized Bessel beam configurations are considered. We show that, in spite of the fact that their evanescent tails do not propagate, these nonparaxial beams can still accelerate along circular trajectories and can exhibit large deflections. Subsequently, our formulation is extended in other two-dimensional vectorial arrangements. The reported results can be useful in plasmonic and other subwavelength and near-field settings.

© 2016 Optical Society of America

Bessel–Gauss beams as rigorous solutions of the Helmholtz equation

Alexandre April
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 28(10) 2100-2107 (2011)

Fast semi-analytical solution of Maxwell’s equations in Born approximation for periodic structures

Maxim Pisarenco, Richard Quintanilha, Mark G. M. M. van Kraaij, and Wim M. J. Coene
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 33(4) 610-617 (2016)

Finite-element solution of Maxwell’s equations with Helmholtz forms

Keith D. Paulsen
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 11(4) 1434-1444 (1994)

Exponentially convergent and numerically efficient solution of Maxwell’s equations for lamellar gratings

R. H. Morf
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 12(5) 1043-1056 (1995)

Self-accelerating self-trapped nonlinear beams of Maxwell's equations

Ido Kaminer, Jonathan Nemirovsky, and Mordechai Segev
Opt. Express 20(17) 18827-18835 (2012)