Fig. 1. Simulation of Airy–STOV wave packet. The TOD of β₃z₀ = 0.00075 ps³ and the spiral phase of l = 1 have been added to the Gaussian pulse with the full width at half-maximum duration of 45 fs. (a) Normalized intensity profile; (b) phase map.

Fig. 2. Experimental setup to generate the Airy–STOV.

Fig. 3. Generation of Airy–STOV, β₃z₀ = 0.00075 ps³, l = 1, I_iso = I_max/15. (a) Simulated iso-intensity plot; (b) experimental iso-intensity plot.

Fig. 4. Comparison between a regular STOV and an Airy–STOV (β₃z₀ = 0.00075 ps³, l = 1) under a significant GVD of β₂z= 0.012 ps² (3.7L_D calculated based on the STOV temporal radius). (a) Simulated regular STOV; (b) simulated Airy–STOV; (c) simulation of the regular STOV under dispersion; (d) simulated dispersion-free propagation of the Airy–STOV; (e) experimental demonstration of dispersion-free propagation of the Airy–STOV.

Fig. 5. Simulated and experimental results to demonstrate the self-acceleration effect of the Airy STOV (β₃z₀ = 0.0005 ps³, l = 1).(a1)–(g1) Simulated intensity plots; (a2)–(g2) simulated phase plots; (a3)–(g3) experimental intensity plots. (a1)–(a3) β₂z = 0.009 ps²; (b1)–(b3) β₂z = 0.006 ps²; (c1)–(c3) β₂z = 0.003 ps²; (d1)–(d3) β₂z = 0 ps²; (e1)–(e3) β₂z = −0.003 ps²; (f1)–(f3) β₂z = −0.006 ps²; (g1)–(g3) β₂z = −0.009 ps².

Fig. 6. Simulated (blue solid line) and experimental (red dashed line) phase singularity temporal shift as a function of GVD, β₃z₀ = 0.0005 ps³.

Fig. 7. (a), (c), (e) Simulated and (b), (d), (f) experimental demonstration of the self-healing, I_iso = I_max/5: (a), (b) initial Airy–STOV; (c), (d) disturbed Airy–STOV (center frequency blocked); (e), (f) healed Airy–STOV with GVD of 0.0129 ps².