The Phase slit: a new laser component

摘要

We present the promising properties of a very simple binary Diffractive Optical element which is a phase slit. The latter is made up of two plates of glass in which a phase step has been produced with ion-etching equipment. The two phase steps are set parallel and are able to slide each on the other so that the width of the phase shifting zone is continuously adjustable. The adjustable phase slit has been used for 1-D laser beam tailoring in which the key parameters that govern the shape of the far-field intensity distribution is the phase step height and the ratio of incident beam and slit widths. The phase slit is able to convert a Gaussian beam into a super-Gaussian or a hollow profile having a central depression whose depth can be continuously adjusted.