无衍射激光束及其相关理论是近年来光学研究领域重要的课题之一,其中艾里激光束是近两年来备受关注的新型无衍射激光束之一。简要介绍了艾里激光束研究的最新进展,阐述了产生艾里激光束的基本原理、实现方法,并着重介绍了艾里激光束所具有的3个奇异特性:自由加速、无衍射及自愈,最后对艾里激光束的应用进行了概述与展望。

The theory and application of nondiffraction beams is one of the most important topics in various optical fields,where the Airy beams appear as a new member of nondiffraction beams family in very recent years. The latest research on Airy beams is introduced,including the principle and three singularities:free acceleration,nondiffraction and self-healing. The promising applications of Airy beams are summarized as well.