Three-dimensional arrays of optical bottle beams

We demonstrate the production of an optical beam with a number of embedded optical bottles. We generate this beam by passing a Laguerre-Gaussian beam, with a radial mode index of p > 1, through an axicon. Such beams are found to possess the "non-diffracting" properties of a Bessel beam while having unusual intensity distributions along the propagation distance. A beam with a single radial node has an on-axis intensity with an intensity minima within the propagation distance, surrounded by a high intensity region. This creating an optical bottle beam with cylindrical symmetry. The production of non-diffracting multiple-cavity beams - a three-dimensional array of optical bottles - is also shown. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.