Focal squeeze in axicons

The on-axis irradiance distribution of a truncated conical wavefront is evaluated in terms of the Fresnel number of the focusing geometry. In agreement with geometrical optics, a focal line of increasing intensity is generated for extremely high Fresnel numbers. Otherwise clear deviations may be observed for the position of the maximum irradiance along the optical axis. A remarkable focal squeeze appears and, for decreasing Fresnel numbers, this effect manifests stronger. An analytical formula is provided for the fast evaluation of the focal squeeze.