Singularities in speckled speckle: Statistics

Random optical fields with two widely different correlation lengths generate far field speckle spots that are themselves highly speckled. We call such patterns speckled speckle, and study their critical points (singularities and stationary points) using analytical theory and computer simulations. We find anomalous spatial arrangements of the critical points and orders of magnitude anomalies in their relative number densities, and in the densities of the associated zero crossings.     

Vector singularities of superposition of mutually incoherent orthogonally polarized beams

It is shown that, at an incoherent superposition of orthogonally polarized laser beams, a special type of singularities are formed in the cross section of a combined beam in place of the well-known singularities, such as optical vortices (for scalar fields); C points, at which the polarization is circular; and L lines, along which the polarization is linear (for coherent vector fields). These new singularities are U lines, along which the degree of polarization is zero and the state of polarization is undetermined, and P points, at which the degree of polarization is equal to unity and the state of polarization is determined by the nonzero component of the combined beam. Conditions of topological stability of U and P singularities are discussed, as well as peculiarities of the spatial distribution of the degree of polarization of the field in the vicinity of such singularities. First experimental results on the reconstruction of a vector skeleton formed by U and P singularities in combined speckle fields are presented.     

Experimental measurements of topological singularity screening in random paraxial scalar and vector optical fields

There exists a substantial body of theory that predicts mutual screening of signed topological singularities (topological charges) in random optical fields (speckle patterns). Such screening appears to be rather mysterious because there are neither energetic nor entropic reasons for its existence. We present the first experimental confirmation of mutual screening by the stationary points of the intensity, the canonical optical scalar field, and of mutual screening by C points in elliptically polarized light, the generic optical vector field. We also elucidate specific aspects of the geometry and topology of these fields that we argue give rise to screening.     

Polarization singularities in partially coherent combined beams

Vector singularities are predicted and discovered experimentally in partially polarized combined fields formed by incoherent superposition of orthogonally polarized beams. Such singularities are U contours with zero degree of polarization and isolated P points with unit degree of polarization centered at vortices of the orthogonally polarized component of the combined beam. Crossing a U contour switches the polarization state to the orthogonal one. The above-mentioned singularities are adequately described in terms of the complex degree of polarization in the Stokes-space representation. It is shown that the field elements corresponding to the extrema of the complex degree of polarization form the vector skeleton of a partially coherent nonuniformly polarized field.     

Polarization singularities in 2D and 3D speckle fields

The 3D structure of randomly polarized light fields is exemplified by its polarization singularities: lines along which the polarization is purely circular (C lines) and surfaces on which the polarization is linear (L surfaces). We visualize these polarization singularities experimentally in vector laser speckle fields, and in numerical simulations of random wave superpositions. Our results confirm previous analytical predictions [M. R. Dennis, Opt. Commun. 213, 201 (2002)] regarding the statistical distribution of types of C points and relate their 2D properties to their 3D structure.     

散斑场相位涡旋及其传播特性的实验研究

用CCD记录散斑场和参考光的干涉图样, 利用傅里叶变换法实现了散斑场复振幅以及相位分布的实验提取, 在复振幅实部零值线和虚部零值线切点处出现一种新的相位奇点, 与两条零值线交点处的传统相位奇点周围单调螺旋变化的相位分布不同, 绕切点一周的相位具有先增大后减小几乎呈对称性分布的特性, 为了解释这种新的相位奇点,提出了准孪生相位涡旋的概念. 在理论研究散斑场强度的纵向自相关函数的基础上, 实验观察散斑场相位涡旋的传播, 发现在光强纵向相关长度范围内的不同传播距离处的观察面上, 复振幅实部和虚部随机变化而涡旋的 关键词： 相位涡旋 散斑 干涉     

Mapping phases of singular scalar light fields

We implement experimentally a simple method for accurate measurements of phase distributions of scalar light fields. The method is based on the polarimetric technique for recording the polarization maps of vector fields, where coaxial superposition of orthogonally polarized reference and signal beams allows the signal phase to be reconstructed from the polarization map of the total field. We demonstrate this method by resolving topologically neutral pairs of closely positioned vortices in a speckle field and recovering the positions of vortices within a Laguerre-Gaussian beam with the topological charge three.     

Polychromatic polarization singularities

Elliptical polarization can appear in only monochromatic optical fields. In polychromatic vector fields the polarization is a Lissajous figure, but in only commensurate fields do the figures have well-defined shapes; in other fields the shapes are undefined. Nonetheless, I show that a given paraxial polychromatic vector field has a coherency ellipse field associated with it that contains polarization singularities and stationary points that are surrogates for the corresponding critical points of the parent optical field.     

Stokes singularity relations

Polarization singularities in paraxial vector optical fields are analyzed in terms of the phase singularities of complex Stokes scalar fields. Six independent relationships are obtained that connect the topological charges of these singularities on special closed contours with the charges of singularities that are enclosed by these contours. These relationships, which have been confirmed by experimental data and computer simulations, imply topological polarization correlations of an infinite range.     

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.     

Second-harmonic generation of polarization singularities

Second-harmonic generation was studied theoretically for the vector singularities (daisy modes) of linearly polarized light and for the elliptic singularities (C points) of elliptically polarized light. Topological charge doubling for C points and daisy modes, similar to that found for vortices, was found. Unlike for vortices, however, it was found that for both C points and daisy modes the sign of the charge is reversed; for C points the photon spin or handedness (right or left) is also reversed; and for daisy modes the number of intensity petals is not doubled. These findings are all unexpected because neither charge nor spin nor orbital angular momentum is conserved for C points, whereas a daisy mode in which the number of intensity petals does not equal twice the magnitude of the charge is anomalous.     

部分相干刃型位错光束的谱Stokes奇点

利用交叉谱密度函数的传输公式,推导出部分相干刃型位错光束在自由空间中传输的解析表达式.结合谱Stokes参数,详细讨论了其Stokes场的奇点变化规律.结果表明,部分相干刃型位错光束在自由空间传输过程中存在谱s12,s23和s31奇点.改变刃型位错的离轴量、斜率、空间相关长度等光束参数以及随着传输距离的变化,会有谱Stokes奇点的移动、产生和湮没,也会有V点的产生和C点旋性的反转.     

Optical vortices in focal regions

Optical vortices in focal regions are studied using the Debye approximation. We discuss how scalar vortices give rise to different intensity structures in the focal region for a certain class of apertures. Vortices in cylindrical symmetric polarization distributions form new complex structures in the focal region, and in some cases the intensity is no longer zero on the optical axis. In particular, we find that for an azimuthal polarization distribution the local circulation deviates from that of the vortex impinging on the lens. On the other hand, upon using a radially polarized field distribution combined with an annular aperture, only the electric-field component along the optical axis remains, and the field structure is the same as in the scalar case.     

Elliptic critical points: C-points, a-lines, and the sign rule

The critical points of generic paraxial ellipse fields consist of singular points of circular polarization, called C -points, and azimuthal stationary points, i.e., maxima, minima, and saddle points. We define these stationary points here and review their properties. The sign rule for ellipse fields requires that the sign of the singularity indices I(C)=+/-1/2 of the C -points on non-self-intersecting lines of constant azimuthal ellipse orientation (modulo pi/2), i.e., a -lines, alternate along the line. We verify this rule experimentally, using a newly developed interferometric technique to measure C -points and a -lines in an elliptically polarized random optical field.     

Cluster self-organization of nanotubes in a nematic phase: The percolation behavior and appearance of optical singularities

The structural features, as well as the optical and electrophysical properties of a 5CB nematic liquid crystal with additions of multilayer carbon nanotubes, have been investigated in the concentration range C = 0.0025–0.1 wt %. The self-aggregation of nanotubes into clusters with a fractal structure occurs in the liquid crystal. At 0.025 wt %, the clusters are merged, initiating the percolation transition of the composite to a state with a high electric conductivity. The strong interaction of 5CB molecules with the surface of nanotube clusters is responsible for the formation of micron surface liquid crystal layers with an irregular field of elastic stresses and a complex structure of birefringence. They are easily observed in a polarization microscope and visualize directly invisible submicron nanotube aggregates. Their transverse size increases when an electric field is applied to the liquid crystal cell. Two mechanisms of the generation of optical singularities in the passing laser beam have been revealed. Optical vortices appear in the speckle fields of laser radiation scattered at the indented boundaries of the nanotube clusters, whereas the birefringence of the beam in surface liquid-crystal layers is accompanied by the appearance of polarization C points.     

The structure of a nonparaxial Gaussian beam near the focus: II. Optical vortices

Exact analytical solutions of Maxwell’s equations describing the behavior of a nonparaxial optical vortex in the vicinity of a focal waist are obtained using the Whittaker method of scalar potentials, the point complex source method, and approximate Davis boundary conditions. It is shown that nonparaxial optical vortices in free space fall into three large groups: even and odd vortices with preferential circular polarization and azimuthally symmetric TE and TM vortices. The fields of even and odd nonparaxial vortices agree well with the fields of guided homogeneous and inhomogeneous vortices of a weakly guiding fiber. In the paraxial approximation, the expressions obtained for the fields are transformed to the fields of paraxial optical vortices. In the focal region, a nonparaxial beam experiences elliptic deformation of the cross section. This elliptic deformation is shown to result from the asymmetric location of regions with negative energy flows. The reversal of sign of the topological charge and the helicity of a combination of even and odd vortices causes both rotation of the dislocation axis through π/2 and longitudinal displacement of the focal spot, which are the transverse and the longitudinal optical Magnus effects.     

Short- and long-range screening of optical phase singularities and C points

Screening of signed (charged) singularities-phase vortices in scalar fields, C points in vector fields, is discussed for paraxial optical fields with short- and long-range correlations. A circular region of radius R is assumed. Short-range screening is exemplified by a Gaussian field correlator, long-range screening by a J₀ Bessel function. The short-range screening length is obtained analytically; this is found to be in substantial agreement with recent experiments. For long-range screening, an accurate asymptotic formula suitable for quantitative comparison with data (numerical or laboratory) is derived for the variance of the net charge. A J₀ correlation function is not attainable in practice, but it is shown how to generate a pseudo-long-range optical field whose correlation function closely approximates this form; screening in such a field is well described by our theoretical results for J₀. The charge variance can be measured by three different methods: by counting positive and negative singularities inside the region of interest, by counting signed zero crossings on the perimeter of this region; or by measuring phase derivatives along the perimeter. For the first method, the charge variance is calculated by integration over the charge correlation function, for the second (third) by integration over the zero crossing (phase derivative) correlation function. It is proven explicitly that, as expected, all three calculations yield the same result. It is also shown analytically that for short-range screening the zero crossings can be counted along a straight line whose length is 2πR, but that for long-range screening this useful simplification no longer holds; for this case another formula is given that is suitable for data correction. The effects of boundary smoothing are discussed, and a class of generalized exponential smoothing functions is introduced. Analytical (numerical) results are given for the large R limit of the charge variance for the short (long) range case. Finally, it is shown that for realizable optical fields, both for the short and pseudo-long-range cases, for sufficiently small R the charge variance grows as R², whereas for sufficiently large R it grows as R.     

Hyperboloid structures formed by polarization singularities in coherent vector fields with longitudinal-transverse coupling

The propagation-dependent polarization vector fields are experimentally created from an isotropic microchip laser with a longitudinal-transverse coupling and entanglement of the polarization states. The experimental three-dimensional coherent vector fields are analytically reconstructed with a coherent superposition of orthogonal circularly polarized vortex modes. Each polarized component is found to comprise two Laguerre-Gaussian modes with different topological charges. With the analytical representation, the polarization singularities, on which the electric polarization ellipse is purely circular (C lines) or purely linear (L surfaces), are explored. The C line singularities are found to form an intriguing hyperboloidal structure.