High-power discrete vortex with phase locked lasers

We present the generation of high-power discrete vortices formed by phase locking one-dimensional ring array of lasers in a degenerate cavity. We have observed that the divergence of discrete vortices is independent of the topological charge, opposed to conventional continuous vortices. Further, we have found that discrete vortices exhibit good self-healing abilities against the obstructions in the source plane as well as propagated plane.