Realization of curved Bessel beams: propagation around obstructions

We present an experimental realization of spiraling and snaking zero-order Bessel beams; light modes designed to deviate from straight-line propagation. We show that these modes can be generated with a tunable lateral deviation, amplitude and axial periodicity using a dynamic adaptive optical element, namely a spatial light modulator. We demonstrate that such beams can elude obstructions placed on the optical axis. We discuss their applications for micromanipulation and within lab-on-a-chip systems.