Polarization conversions of diffractive wave plates based on orthogonal circular-polarization holography

A polarization holographic grating, which integrates the functions of a grating and a wave plate and is called a diffractive wave plate, is recorded by two beams(left and right circularly polarized) of a 532 nm laser in an azo polymer with a liquid-crystal structure. The polarization conversion characteristics of the diffractive wave plates are investigated with a detecting light of 650 nm by metering the polarization state of first-order diffracted light.It is confirmed that the diffractive wave plates convert the incident linear polarization into circular polarization for a linearly polarized probe laser and reverse the sense of rotation of the circular polarization when the detecting light is circularly polarized light.     

Polarization holographic gratings in an azobenzene side-chain liquid-crystalline polymer

Polarization holographic recording was investigated in a liquid-crystalline azobenzene side-chain polymer. A highly stable polarization holographic grating with the diffraction efficiency of 12.6% was written in the polymer film by two orthogonally linearly polarized 532 nm beams with equal intensities of 150 mW/cm². The polarization grating was studied with a 633 nm probe beam by surveying the conversion of the polarization state of the probe beam and measuring the dependence of diffraction efficiency on the polarization direction of the probe beam. It was found that the ± first-order diffraction efficiency and the polarization of the diffracted wave depended strongly on the polarization of the readout wave. The unusual diffraction properties of the recorded grating were attributed to the presence of the circular photoinduced birefringence. PACS 42.40.Ht; 42.40.Lx; 78.20.Fm     

Polarization-invariant grating based on a photoaligned liquid crystal in an oppositely twisted binary configuration

We demonstrate a polarization-invariant liquid-crystal (LC) grating in an oppositely twisted and mutually orthogonal configuration. The polarization-invariant LC grating with high diffraction efficiency is fabricated using a single-masking process with two-step exposure of a linearly polarized ultraviolet light. It is found that the zeroth- and the first-order diffracted beams are linearly polarized and perpendicular to each other irrespective of the incident polarization for the phase retardation of m pi (m=integer).     

Measuring Stokes parameters by means of a polarization grating

Ordinary gratings act on the amplitude and (or) the phase of a wave front. Polarization gratings produce instead a periodic modulation of the state of polarization. A simple grating of the latter type is constituted by a linear polarizer whose orientation varies periodically along a line. It is shown that, for a generic polarization state of the incident field, such a grating gives rise to first-order diffracted beams with counterrotating circular polarizations. It is also shown that such a grating can be used for measuring the Stokes parameters of a light beam in an achromatic manner. Several extensions are briefly discussed.     

A phase sensitive optical rotation measurement in a scattered chiral medium using a Zeeman laser

A novel circular polarized optical heterodyne interferometer using a Zeeman laser to measure optical rotation both in nonscattered and scattered chiral medium is proposed. A pair of correlated orthogonal circular polarized light waves of different temporal frequency propagating in the chiral medium at different speed is studied. This results in phase retardation between circular polarized light waves of which the phase difference is proportional to the optical rotation angle of a linear polarized light in a chiral medium. In the mean time, two orthogonal circular polarized light waves can be treated as a circular polarized photon pair that is able to reduce the scattering effect in a scattered chiral medium. Then the optical rotation angle can be measured in the scattering medium. In addition, a common-path configuration with respect to circular polarized light waves immune the background noise. This further improves the sensitivity on optical rotation measurement based on phase difference detection.     

Coupling of orthogonally polarized waves in BaTiO3

The first observation of anisotropic diffraction (with a 90|Mo change of the polarization of the diffracted wave) in BaTiO₃ from a grating recorded by two orthogonally polarized waves, an ordinary and an extraordinary wave, is reported. Three possible origins of this effect are considered: (i) direct one-step diffraction from a grating recorded anisotropically by spatially oscillating photovoltaic currents, (ii) indirect, sequential diffraction from two gratings, each recorded by one incident wave and an additional wave due to light-induced scattering, (iii) direct one-step diffraction from a grating with the grating vector equal to the difference of the grating vectors of two conjugated noisy gratings. The experimental evidence indicates that the process (iii) contributes most, and process (i) more than 10% to the overall diffraction efficiency, whereas process (ii) seems to be of minor importance.     

Optical properties of polarization-dependent geometric phase elements with partially polarized light

The behavior of geometric phase elements illuminated with partially polarized monochromatic beams is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. The element discussed in this paper is composed of wave plates with π-retardation and a space-variant orientation angle. We found that a beam emerging from such an element comprises two polarization orders; right-and left-handed circularly polarized states with conjugate geometric phase modification. This phase equals twice the orientation angle of the space-variant wave plate comprising the element. Apart from the two polarization orders, the emerging beam coherence polarization matrix includes a “vectorial interference matrix” which contains information concerning the correlation between the two orthogonal, circularly polarized portions of the incident beam. In this paper we measure this correlation by a simple interference experiment. In addition, we found that the equivalent mutual intensity of the emerging beam is modulated according to the geometric phase induced by the element. Other interesting phenomena concerning propagation will be discussed theoretically and demonstrated experimentally. The experiment made use of a spherical geometric phase element that was realized by use of a space-variant subwavelength grating illuminated with CO₂ laser radiation of 10.6 μm wavelength.     

Far-field divergence of a vectorial plane wave diffracted by a circular aperture from the vectorial structure

Based on the vectorial structure of an electromagnetic wave, the analytical and concise expressions for the TE and TM terms of a vectorial plane wave diffracted by a circular aperture are derived in the far-field. The expressions of the energy flux distributions of the TE term, the TM term and the diffracted plane wave are also presented. The ratios of the power of the TE and TM terms to that of the diffracted plane wave are examined in the far-field. In addition, the far-field divergence angles of the TE term, the TM term and the diffracted plane wave, which are related to the energy flux distribution, are investigated. The different energy flux distributions of the TE and TM terms result in the discrepancy of their divergence angles. The influences of the linearly polarized angle and the radius of the circular aperture on the far-field divergence angles of the TE term, the TM term and the diffracted plane wave are discussed in detail. This research may promote the recognition of the optical propagation through a circular aperture.vspace1mm     

超冷原子中的拉曼增益光栅

为提高光栅的衍射效率,提出了基于主动拉曼效应的超冷原子光栅系统。理论研究表明：通过拉曼增益的空间周期性调节,可有效地将沿垂直光栅方向传播的弱探测光衍射到一级方向,同时零级衍射光将被放大。当系统中引进微波场的原子相干效应时,可以进一步提高光栅的一级衍射效率。在一定的条件下,拉曼增益光栅的一级衍射效率可高于电磁诱导相位光栅的一级衍射效率。该系统可作为高效光开关用于全光网络。     

Unidirectional transmission realized by two nonparallel gratings made of isotropic media

We realize a unidirectional transmission by cascading two nonparallel gratings (NPGs) made of isotropic, lossless, and linear media. For a pair of orthogonal linear polarizations, one of the gratings is designed as a polarizer, which is a reflector for one polarization and a transmitter for the other; another grating is designed as a polarization converter, which converts most of one polarized incident wave into another polarized transmitted wave. It is demonstrated by numerical calculation that more than 85% of the incident light energy can be transmitted with less than 1% transmission in the opposite direction for linearly polarized light at normal incidence, and the relative bandwidth of the unidirectional transmission is nearly 9%. The maximum transmission contrast ratio between the two directions is 62 dB. Unlike one-way diffraction grating, the transmitted light of the NPGs is collinear with the incident light, but their polarizations are orthogonal.     

局域体全息光栅的衍射特性

基于三维耦合波理论，研究了两束有限宽度的任意偏振平面波干涉产生的局域体全息光栅的衍射问题。以单位均匀振幅的任意偏振平面波为例，给出了透射波和衍射波振幅的主分量和交叉分量的解析表达式，讨论了记录过程和再现过程中入射的参考光波的偏振角对透射波和衍射波振幅的影响。计算结果表明，记录过程中的偏振角越小，形成的光栅内的耦合越强，衍射效率越高，但光束质量越差；再现过程中不同的偏振角，由于入射波和衍射波的电矢量的不同方向的耦合强弱不同，透射波和衍射波振幅的主分量和交叉分量的振幅变化行为不同。     

Manipulating Nonlinear Photocurrent from Interlayer Coupling in Bilayer Metamaterials for Polarized Terahertz Generation

Polarized terahertz (THz) wave generation is of great significance for chiral and anisotropic sensing applications. However, how to manipulate amplitude, polarization, and ellipticity of the THz generation is still a fundamental challenge. Herein, polarized THz wave generation is achieved from a bilayer metamaterial consisting of T-shaped structure (TSS) and split resonator rings (SRRs) by combining Maxwell and hydrodynamic equations. The elliptically polarized THz wave can be synthetized directly from horizontally and vertically polarized THz components due to the orthogonal nonlinear photocurrents along the arm-directions of TSS and SRRs, respectively. Besides, the ellipticity and the orientation angle of the THz polarization ellipse can be modulated by the twist angle between the SRRs and TSS layers. The maximum ellipticity can reach 0.34 while the orientation angle is tunable from −0.45 to 0.48π by tuning the twist angle. This work proposes an interlayer coupling method for the polarized THz sources based on metamaterials in potential circular dichroism and chiral sensing applications.     

Lineshape and polarization mode dispersion of waves diffracted by apodized and chirped fiber Bragg gratings in reflection

The amplitude and phase of a light wave propagating in an apodized and chirped Bragg grating is given by the superposition of two orthogonal coupled wave functions that are the solution of a non-linear Riccati equation. An analytical solution, in the form of an integral transform, that predicts the amplitude, phase, and intensity profile of the light diffracted by grating, in which the local Bragg wavelength is asymmetric, and the forward and counter propagating modes are non-degenerate is presented. For even apodization and odd chirp the lineshape has an asymmetrical Gaussian form the result of mixing of the real and imaginary components of the apodized grating wave function. The effect of chirping is to shift the resonance wavelength, increase the grating bandwidth and polarization mode dispersion. The dependence of linewidth and dispersion on parameters that alter apodization and chirp after fabrication, is also discussed.     

偶氮液晶聚合物薄膜的二维偏振全息记录

利用偏振全息记录的方法在一种含偶氮侧链的液晶聚合物薄膜中写入了二维偏振光栅.实验采用两束正交偏振的532 nm线偏光作为写入光,在样品同一点上分别记录了相互垂直的两个一维偏振光栅,继而对所构成的二维偏振光栅的特性进行了研究.实验结果表明：二维光栅的衍射效率比一维光栅低,其偏振特性是两个一维光栅元特性的叠加;二维光栅衍射效率对入射光偏振态的依赖性和光栅的偏振转换性质来源于材料中线双折射和圆双折射的共同作用. 关键词： 偏振全息 二维光栅 偶氮液晶聚合物     

Quasi-collinear and partially degenerate four-wave mixing: An alternative explanation of the phase-conjugation property of backward stimulated scattering

A quasi-collinear and partially degenerate four-wave mixing model is proposed to explain the optical phase-conjugation property of various types of stimulated backscattering. According to this model, after passing through a phase-disturbed medium or an aberration plate, the input pump beam can be resolved into two portions: a stronger undisturbed regular portion and a weaker phase-disturbed irregular portion. These two portions interfere with each other and create a volume holographic grating in the pumped region of the scattering medium. Only the stronger undisturbed portion of the pump field can excite an initial backward stimulated scattering beam with a regular wavefront. When the latter (as a reading beam) passes through the induced holographic grating, a diffracted wave will be created and then amplified together with the reading beam. A rigorous mathematical analysis shows that under certain conditions the combination of these two portions (the reading wave and the diffracted wave) of the backward stimulated scattering can be an approximate phase-conjugate field of the input pump field. The major theoretical conclusions are basically supported by the experimental results based on a specially designed two-beam interference setup. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 115, 431–448 (February 1999) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Reproduced here with stylistic changes by the Translation Editor.     

The elliptical gaussian wave transformation due to diffraction by an elliptical hologram

Realized as an interferogram of a spherical and a cylindrical wave, the elliptical hologram is treated as a plane diffracting grating which produces Fresnel diffraction of a simple astigmatic gaussian incident wave. It is shown that if the principal axes of the incident beam coincide with the principal axes of the hologram, the diffracted wave field is composed of three different astigmatic gaussian waves, with their waists situated in parallel but distinct planes. The diffraction pattern, observed on a transverse screen, is the result of the interference of the three diffracted wave components. It consists of three systems of overlapped second-order curves, whose shape depends on the distance of the observation screen from the hologram, as well as on the parameters of the incident wave beam and the hologram. The results are specialized for gratings in the form of circular and linear holograms and for the case of a stigmatic gaussian incident wave, as well as for the normal plane-wave incidence on the three mentioned types of hologram.     

Coupled scalar wave diffraction theory

A simple but accurate coupled-wave theory describing diffraction from a volume grating is developed, which applies to planar diffraction geometries with the electric field polarized normal to the plane of incidence. Modulation of the dielectric and the absorption properties of the medium are considered, and the analysis is developed for gratings nonuniform with depth and for composite (multiplexed) gratings. The theory is based axiomatically on Maxwell's equations, and no approximations or simplifying assumptions other than those requisite to the scalar wave formulation of the theory enter into the analysis (except that for computational applications, only a finite number of diffracted orders may be retained in the analysis).     

Simple system for evaluating retardation of liquid crystal cells using grating type liquid crystal polarization splitters

We propose a unique optical system for measuring the retardation of birefringent films using a pair of liquid crystal (LC) gratings; that is, the examined birefringent films are inserted between two LC gratings. Because the LC grating functions as a polarization beam splitter for circularly polarized light, the proposed system is optically equivalent to the measurement system using a pair of two circular polarizers. First, the polarization splitting performance of the LC grating is discussed. It is found that a sufficiently high voltage (such that the retardation is less than a half wavelength) has to be applied for the almost pure circularly polarized diffracted light. Next, the measurement of the retardation of a homogeneous LC cell as an examined birefringent film was demonstrated using the proposed method. The proposed method is revealed to have the same measurement performance as that of the conventional method using a pair of linear polarizers and has an advantage that there is no need for the optic axis of the test birefringent specimen to be set at a specific angle.     

Zur Beugung des Lichtes an Magnetisierungsstrukturen

The observation of ferromagnetic domains by means of the Faraday- and Kerr-effect is discussed in terms of physical optics. According to this concept, the effect of the analyzer is described as transforming the magnetization structure into an absorbing and phase-changing object. It is calculated that a magnetization structure gives rise to diffraction phenomena and that the diffracted light is polarized perpendicular to the incident wave. This result is confirmed by experimental observation of Fraunhofer diffraction patterns caused by a “ferromagnetic grating”.