Tuning the resolution and depth of field of a lens using an adjustable ring beam illumination.

A pair of axicons with an adjustable separation between them is used to generate a variable diameter ring beam with high efficiency. This beam illuminates a lens to produce quasi-diffraction-free beams with a tunable spot size and depth of field. We studied the generated beam characteristics while changing either the ring diameter or its thickness. Such a scheme has applications in adjustable imaging, including nondiffracting beam microscopy, material processing with an irradiance above a certain threshold value, and particle trapping/manipulation.