Managing electromagnetic field propagation in gradient-index media

摘要

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium for managing beam shaping in gradient refractive index (GRIN) media are provided. In one aspect, a method includes specifying a field evolution throughout a gradient-index (GRIN) medium and generating a refractive index profile of the GRIN medium based on the specified field evolution in the GRIN medium. Diffraction effects are considered in solving for the refractive index profile. The index profile is found by specifying a desired beam transformation throughout the GRIN medium and solving a series of phase retrieval problems. The GRIN medium can be two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D).