Formation of Bessel beams with continuously variable cone angle

Abstract

A simple device capable to produce Bessel beams with variable cone angle is proposed. It is shown that the cone angle of the Bessel beam produced by the axicone placed inside the telescope depends on the position of the axicone and can be continuously varied. As a result of theoretical investigations a simple formula giving the cone half-angle on the parameters and position of axicone inside the telescope was derived. The possibility of the Bessel beam generation with the help of a proposed device was confirmed experimentally. Good qualitative and quantitative agreement with the theoretical predictions is obtained.