Self-healing spatiotemporal Airy wave packets

The Airy waves, characterized by unique self-accelerating, self-healing, and nondiffracting properties, have widespread applications in particle manipulation, biomedical imaging, material processing. The investigations of Airy waves primarily focus on either spatial or temporal dimensions, and the generation of spatiotemporal Airy wave packets remains a complex task. Herein, we demonstrate the self-healing spatiotemporal Airy wave packets in a fiber laser based on the programmable pulse shaper and liquid crystal cubic-phase plate. The properties of Airy wave packets rely on the imparted cubic frequency phase, geometric phase, and the input polarization state, giving birth to controllable spatiotemporal profiles. The self-healing behaviors of spatiotemporal Airy wave packets are verified in both temporal and spatial domains. These time-space dynamically adjustable Airy wave packets hold significant potential for applications in dynamic microscopy imaging and high-speed optical data transmission.