Generation of droplet bessel beams using a semiconductor laser

In this paper, we studied Bessel beams obtained using an axicon with a substantially rounded apex. A study of the interference of two wave fronts arising from the refraction of the generating beam on an imperfect axicon showed that rounding its apex results in periodic pulsations of intensity in the resultant quasi-Bessel beam resembling visually the “droplets” of light. The proposed mathematical model demonstrates excellent agreement with the experiment.