Contribution of the Transverse Electric (TE) and Transverse Magnetic (TM) Components to an Airy Beam
R.P. Chen, C-Y. Qian and C.H. Raymond Ooi
Analytical expressions for the transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) components of Airy beams under paraxial condition are derived based on the vector angular spectrum and the asymptotic approximation methods. The energy flux density distributions of an Airy beam indicate that the ratio of the transverse energy density flux to the longitudinal component increases with increasing propagation distance; however, the TM component increases faster than that of TE component in the region of Fresnel diffraction during propagation. The ratio depends sensitively on the wavelength, λ, and the transverse scale parameter, x0. The physical pictures for the propagation dynamics of an Airy beam are well illustrated from the vectorial structure, and thus provide a deeper understanding of an Airy beam for potential applications in corresponding fields such as nanophotonics, caustic optical fields, manipulation of an optical field.
Keywords: Laser beam, Airy beam, transverse electric (TE), transverse magnetic (TM), transverse energy density flux