Influences of twist phenomenon of partially coherent field with uniform-intensity diffractive axicons.

The effects of twist phenomenon (beam rotation) of a partially coherent field are studied on the operation of two classes of uniform-intensity diffractive axicons. A general theory of axicon image formation is developed, discussed, and examined. We show that the intensity of the diffracted field is a multiple Bessel field, and only the energy of the zero-order Bessel field diffracts along the propagation axes. We also show that, at any twist strength in all correlation levels, the images can be evaluated by using the stationary-phase method. The three-dimensional stationary-phase formula of axicon images is derived. Such formula may be used in fast image evaluation, for designing diffractive axicons that perform a uniform axial intensity in a twisted partially coherent field.