Abstract

Based on the principle of catastrophe theory, by adding an additional phase factor, we adjust Pearcey beams, which therefore have a more flexible and controllable light-field structure. The basic optical structure and evolution characteristics of caustics are also investigated. In particular, we derive analytical equations of caustics for Pearcey beams by exactly considering the specially engineered phase factor. Experimentally, binary masks are used to encode light-field information with the superpixel method so that the theoretically designed Pearcey beam can be generated. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations indicate that the caustics remain unchanged but exhibit lateral shift for a series of phase parameters during propagation in free space. This phenomenon has potential applications in the field of optical manipulation.

© 2021 Optical Society of America

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