利用全息法在偶氮聚合物薄膜中记录涡旋光场

利用全息技术在偶氮聚合物薄膜中记录了拓扑荷数q=–1,1,2,4的涡旋光场,并将记录的原始叉形光栅与计算全息光栅进行对比,对不同拓扑荷数涡旋光的记录速率和偶氮材料的可重复擦写性能进行了测试;记录完成后,将复现涡旋光与高斯光束干涉,并与原始涡旋光和原始叉形光栅对比,分析了记录质量.实验结果表明:高阶涡旋光场的全息叉形光栅会在记录过程中发生劈裂,轻微劈裂的涡旋光束仍维持一个稳定的环状结构;全息记录过程中不同拓扑荷数的涡旋光束记录速率较为统一,偶氮材料可经过上百次的擦写而不出现疲劳;再现涡旋光与原始涡旋光在光强分布结构上保持高度一致,再现涡旋光的干涉条纹与原始涡旋全息光栅保持高度一致,涡旋光及其携带的拓扑荷信息可被有效记录和读取.     

Poincaré vortices

Traditional interferometric methods for measuring the vortex structure of complex wave fields suffer from many intrinsic problems and seldom yield results of any accuracy. Using the unique properties of what I call Poincaré vortices, I develop a radically different method based on Stokes parameters that offers many practical advantages. The theory of this new method is discussed, and its unique capabilities are illustrated by reconstruction with high accuracy of the vortex structure of a simulated random field containing numerous vortices, including several closely spaced vortex pairs that would be difficult, if not impossible, to resolve by traditional means.     

Astigmatic telescopic transformation of a high-order optical vortex

Properties of an optical vortex light beam formed after the astigmatic telescopic transformation of a circular Laguerre-Gaussian mode are considered both theoretically and experimentally. The beam evolution is found to be in conformity with the general notions on the high-order optical vortex symmetry breakdown. Upon propagation, the asymmetric beam shows a sort of rotation of its transverse profile in accord with the energy circulation in the original circular mode; this process is described on the base of the beam intensity moments and the vortex and asymmetry components of its orbital angular momentum. An l-charged optical vortex converts into |l| secondary first-order vortices positioned on a straight line crossing the beam axis. Orientation of this straight line in the beam cross section and spatial separation of the secondary vortex cores depend on the propagation distance. Morphology (orientation and anisotropy) of all the secondary vortices is the same and depends on the propagation distance; the anisotropy can be characterized by the vortex component of the beam angular momentum. At certain distance, relative separation of secondary vortices with respect to the beam transverse size reaches its maximum that corresponds to the minimum anisotropy of the vortices. The results can be useful in the context of current research of the optical vortex arrays.     

Dynamical creation of fractionalized vortices and vortex lattices

We investigate the dynamic creation of fractionalized half-quantum vortices in Bose-Einstein condensates of sodium atoms. Our simulations show that both individual half-quantum vortices and vortex lattices can be created in rotating optical traps when additional pulsed magnetic trapping potentials are applied. We also find that a distinct periodically modulated spin-density-wave spatial structure is always embedded in square half-quantum vortex lattices. This structure can be conveniently probed by taking absorption images of ballistically expanding cold atoms in a Stern-Gerlach field.     

Generation of Circular Optical Vortex Array

We report on a novel optical vortex array named circular optical vortex array, which is generated by the superposition of two concentric perfect optical vortices. The circular optical vortex array has a constant topological charge of +1 or ?1, the number and sign of which are determined by the topological charges of the two perfect optical vortices. Moreover, the radius of the circular optical vortex array is easily adjusted by using the cone angle of an axicon. Furthermore, the circular optical vortex array and multiple circular optical vortex array can be rotated by changing the initial phase difference of the perfect optical vortices on demand. This work demonstrates a complex structured optical field, which is of significance for applications such as optical tweezers, micro‐particle manipulation, and optical imaging.     

Conversion of topological charge of optical vortices in a parametric frequency converter

It is shown that sum-frequency generation of light beams with vortices allows to construct vortices of different topological charges. An optical parametric amplifier enables to produce a vortex with opposite topological charge (to the reverse vortex). In this way, a frequency converter can be seen as a prototype of an optical processor which allows to produce simple arithmetical operations with topological charges of the interacting vortices.     

Experiments with twisted light

The generic – that is, stable under perturbations – nodes of the field in a monochromatic light beam are optical vortices. We describe here their connection to Chladni's nodal lines in the oscillations of metal plates, as well as a few experiments that have been performed with optical vortices. We will describe how optical vortices can be generated experimentally; how it can be shown that they possess orbital angular momentum; how individual photons can be sorted according to their vortex state; and how optical vortices can be used to demonstrate higher-dimensional quantum entanglement.     

Experimental observation of tangent-azimuthal non-spiral optical vortex

Optical vortices have attracted much attention recently due to their novel properties and widening applications. And lots of optical vortices can be obtained though most of them turn on spiral pattern on increasing azimuthal angle. In this paper, one kind of non-spiral optical vortex was proposed whose front phase distribution is tangent function of azimuthal angle. And this kind of optical vortices were also observed experimentally by computer-generated hologram method. It was found that when topological charge is smaller than unit one, vortex beam shape changes considerably on increasing topological charge, from hollow pattern to curve shape. When topological charge is bigger than unit and is times of 0.5, vortex beam turns symmetrical polygonal pattern though there is crack between adjacent sides, and the side number is twice of topological charge.     

Experimental umbilic diabolos in random optical fields

The intensity of a random optical field consists of bright speckle spots (maxima) separated from dark areas (minima and optical vortices) by saddle points. We show that hidden in this complicated landscape are umbilic points--singular points at which the eigenvalues Lambda (+/-) of the Hessian matrix that measure the curvature of the landscape become degenerate. Although not observed previously in random optical fields, umbilic points are the most numerous of all special points, outnumbering maxima, minima, saddle points, and vortices. We show experimentally that the directions of principal curvature, the eigenvectors Psi (+/-), rotate about intensity umbilic points with positive or negative half-integer winding number, in accord with theory, and that Lambda (+) and Lambda (-) generate a double cone known as a diabolo. At optical vortices the curvature of the amplitude is singular, and we show from both theory and experiment that for this landscape Psi (+/-) rotate about vortex centers with a positive integer winding number. Diabolos can be classified as elliptic or hyperbolic, and we present initial results for the measured fractions of these two different types of umbilic diabolos.     

Fractality of light's darkness

Natural light fields are threaded by lines of darkness. For monochromatic light, the phenomenon is familiar in laser speckle, i.e., the black points that appear in the scattered light. These black points are optical vortices that extend as lines throughout the volume of the field. We establish by numerical simulations, supported by experiments, that these vortex lines have the fractal properties of a Brownian random walk. Approximately 73% of the lines percolate through the optical beam, the remainder forming closed loops. Our statistical results are similar to those of vortices in random discrete lattice models of cosmic strings, implying that the statistics of singularities in random optical fields exhibit universal behavior.     

Tunable optical vortex arrays using spontaneous periodic pattern formation in nematic liquid crystal cells

Controllable liquid crystal (LC) defects can provide an effective approach to creating tunable optical vortices. We develop a method to create tunable matter vortex arrays in an LC cell, in which +1 and −1 defects are periodically arranged in a square grid lattice. Spontaneous formation of the periodic defect array is achieved using a spontaneous standing pressure wave without using any patterned electrode or patterned alignment layer. The +1 and −1 defects in the array can induce optical vortices with opposite handedness, and the matter vortex array produces a periodic optical vortex array with orbital angular momenta of −2ℏ and +2ℏ in the same grid lattice. Because the pitch of the grid can be controlled, the method can provide a useful pathway to producing tunable optical vortex arrays for various applications such as advanced optical communication and quantum computation.     

Transfer and storage of vortex states in light and matter waves

We theoretically explore the transfer of vortex states between atomic Bose-Einstein condensates and optical pulses using ultraslow and stopped light techniques. We find shining a coupling laser on a rotating two-component ground state condensate with a vortex lattice generates a probe laser field with optical vortices. We also find that optical vortex states can be robustly stored in the atomic superfluids for times, in Rb-87 condensates, limited only by the ground state coherence time.     

Pinning of vortices in a Bose-Einstein condensate by an optical lattice

We consider the ground state of vortices in a Bose-Einstein condensate. We show that turning on a weak optical periodic potential leads to a transition from the triangular Abrikosov vortex lattice to phases where the vortices are pinned by the optical potential. We discuss the phase diagram of the system for a two-dimensional optical periodic potential with one vortex per optical lattice cell. We also discuss the influence of a one-dimensional optical periodic potential on the vortex ground state. The latter situation has no analog in other condensed-matter systems.     

Symmetry breaking of optical vortices: birth and annihilation of singularities in the evanescent field

The interaction of optical vortices (or phase singularities, or screw dislocations) with ordinary matter is treated with a simple approach. Using the total internal reflection phenomenon and the superposition of four plane waves incident on a material with a refractive index lower than the original propagating medium, we are able to show the birth and annihilation of optical vortices in an evanescent field with curved topological features. Until now, this phenomenon has been explored only in free space propagation. By a suitable tuning process involving the incident angles and the amplitudes of the incident plane waves, it is possible to create unusual topological features of optical vortices in the vicinity of the material. We believe that this work can open new aspects of curved optical vortex manipulation in near-field optics.     

Evaluation of a phase shifting method for vortex localization in optical vortex interferometry

The optical vortex interferometer uses a regular lattice of the optical vortices. In the previous papers we showed that changes in vortex lattice geometry can be related to physical quantities of the object being measured. The accuracy of such a measurement depends strongly on the precision of vortex point localization (vortex points are points where wavefront phase is undetermined). In this paper we compared the measurements of object wave tilt calculated from different localization methods applied to real interferograms and evaluate various localization methods.     

Generation of optical vortices with tunable intensity modulation

We analyze vortex properties of the optical beams generated by a spiral phase plate (SPP) which cannot modulate the phase of the incident beam range from 0 to 2π nicely, and find that the vortices have intensity modulation (IM) with central bright speckle. We construct an improved SPP to produce high quality optical vortices with definite IM. Theoretical analysis and real experiments show that this improved SPP can be used to produce optical vortices with configurable intensity modulation degree and without central bright spot.     

Splitting and rotating of optical vortices due to non-circular symmetry in amplitude and phase distributions of host beams

Discussed is the dynamics of optical vortices carrying multi-topological charges, which are nested in optical envelopes with non-circular symmetric amplitudes and phases. As a result of the non-circular symmetry either in amplitudes or in phases, the vortices can split in pairs from the centers of the host beams. During the splitting process of every constituent vortex, its carried integer charges evolve into fractional ones. Furthermore, the overall rotations of the host optical envelopes are found to happen in the splitting process. The theoretical results may find potential applications in beam shaping and engineering.     

脉冲激励下超音速混合层涡结构的演化机理

采用大涡模拟方法对脉冲激励作用下的超音速混合层流场进行数值模拟,所得结果清晰展示了流场中涡结构的独特生长机理.基于涡核位置提取方法,对超音速混合层流场中涡结构的空间尺寸和瞬时对流速度等动态特性进行了定量计算.通过分析流场中涡结构的动态特性在不同频率脉冲激励下的变化,揭示出受脉冲激励超音速混合层流场中涡结构的演化机理:涡结构的生长不再是依靠相邻涡-涡结构之间的配对与融合,而是通过涡核外围的一串小涡旋结构被依次吸进涡核来实现,且受激励流场中各个涡结构的空间尺寸变化较小;流场中的涡结构数量与脉冲频率成正比例关系,而涡结构的空间尺寸与脉冲频率成反比例关系;涡结构的平均对流速度随脉冲频率的增大而减小.针对受脉冲激励超音速混合层,给出了能够表征涡结构特性与脉冲激励参数之间关系的方程式,即受激励流场中涡结构的平均对流速度与脉冲周期的乘积近似等于流场中涡结构的空间尺寸(涡结构平均直径).     

Observation of orbital angular momentum transfer between acoustic and optical vortices in optical fiber

Acousto-optic interaction in optical fiber is examined from the perspective of copropagating optical and acoustic vortex modes. Calculation of the acousto-optic coupling coefficient between different optical modes leads to independent conservation of spin and orbital angular momentum of the interacting photons and phonons. We show that the orbital angular momentum of the acoustic vortex can be transferred to a circularly polarized fundamental optical mode to form a stable optical vortex in the fiber carrying orbital angular momentum. The technique provides a useful way of generating stable optical vortices in the fiber medium.     

Experimental investigation of local properties and statistics of optical vortices in random wave fields

We present the first direct experimental evidence of the local properties of optical vortices in a random laser speckle field. We have observed the Berry anisotropy ellipse describing the anisotropic squeezing of phase lines close to vortex cores and quantitatively verified the Dennis angular momentum rule for its phase. Some statistics associated with vortices, such as density, anisotropy ellipse eccentricity, and its relation to zero crossings of real and imaginary parts of the random field, are also investigated by experiments.