We report on the development of an ultrafast beam shaper capable of generating Bessel
beams of high cone angle that maintain a high intensity hot spot with subwavelength
diameter over a propagation distance in excess of 8 mm. This generates a high intensity
focal region with extremely high aspect ratio exceeding 10 000: 1. The absence of
intermediate focusing in the shaper allows for shaping very high energies, up to Joule
levels. We demonstrate a proof of principle application of the Bessel beam shaper for stealth …