Generation of self-imaged optical bottle beams

We propose a novel technique to generate self-imaged optical bottle beams by interfering two Bessel beams with varying radial propagation constant or radial frequency. The optical bottle beams have on-axis intensity minima along the propagation direction surrounded with regions of higher intensity. We introduce the phenomena of self-imaging in an optical bottle beam to possess numerous bottles embedded in a single beam. This removes the constraint on optical bottle beams to possess p bottles or null intensity points, where p is radial mode index of a Laguerre-Gaussian beam used to generate it, as reported by McGlaoin [Opt. Commun. 225 (2003) 215]. This technique also provides additional freedom on the bottle size and its location, which can be pre-determined. Both simulation and experimental results for the generation of such beams are reported in the paper. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.