High-power Bessel beams with orbital angular momentum in the terahertz range

In this paper, we have performed experimental, analytical, and numerical studies of beams with topological charges of $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1$ and $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2$ formed by silicon binary phase axicons (BPAs) with spiral zone structures. The axicons were illuminated with the Novosibirsk free electron laser radiation (a continuous stream of 100-ps pulses at $f=5.6$ MHz). The cw power of the beams produced reached 30 W and can by doubled via antireflection coating of the axicons. The intensity distribution in the beam cross sections was in good agreement with the Bessel functions and was kept constant within a distance of about $L/r\ensuremath{\approx}190$ and 100, where the first ring radii of the beams r were 0.9 and 1.5 mm for the Bessel beams of the first and second orders, respectively. Although the characteristics of the beams (Bessel cross section, ``diffraction-free'' propagation, self-recovery after passing obstacles, and randomly inhomogeneous media) corresponded to the properties of ideal Bessel beams, their spatial Fourier spectrum (the image in the focal plane of the lens) was, instead of an ideal ring, intertwined segments of arcs with phases shifted by $\ensuremath{\pi}$, the number of which was equal to the double value of the topological charge. This feature can be used, for example, in a demultiplexing unit of a free vortex-wave communication system or for identification of beam topological charge. We also revisited Young's double-slit diffraction and rotation of beams obstructed by a half-plane, previously applied to Laguerre-Gaussian beam characterization, in the case of the Bessel beams. The Young diffraction pattern demonstrated in this case a complicated intensity-phase distribution. It was shown that the Bessel beams formed by BPAs have two important advantages, which can be used in applications, in comparison with other methods of generation, e.g., a combination of an axicon lens with a spiral phase plate. Although the phase jumps of the axicons are designed for a determined wavelength (141 $\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{m}$ in our case), the BPAs can form the beams at incident radiation with any wavelength, albeit with a reduced diffraction efficiency, and their cross section is the same for any wavelength.