Tight focusing of axially symmetric polarized vortex beams

Tight focusing of axially symmetric polarized vortex beams is studied numerically based on vector diffraction theory. The mathematical expressions for the focused fields are derived. Simulation results show that the focused fields and phase distributions at focus are largely influenced by both the polarization order and topological charge of the incident beams. Moreover, focal spots with flat-topped or tightly-focused patterns can be flexibly achieved by carefully choosing the polar- ization order and the topological charge, which confirms the potential of such beams in wide applications, such as optical tweezers, laser printing, lithography, and material processing.     

Rotating vectorial vortices produced by space-variant subwavelength gratings

A new class of vectorial vortex based on coherent addition of two orthogonal circularly polarized Bessel beams of identical order but with different propagation constants is presented. The transversely space-variant axially symmetric polarization distributions of these vectorial fields rotate as they propagate, while they maintain a propagation-invariant Bessel intensity distribution. These properties were demonstrated by use of discrete space-variant subwavelength gratings for 10.6 microm CO2 laser radiation. The polarization properties were verified by both full space-variant polarization analysis and measurements. Rotating intensity patterns are also demonstrated by transmitting the vectorial vortices through a linear polarizer.     

Multiple optical trapping based on high-order axially symmetric polarized beams

Multiple optical trapping with high-order axially symmetric polarized beams(ASPBs) is studied theoretically,and a scheme based on far-field optical trapping with ASPBs is first proposed.The focused fields and the corresponding gradient forces on Rayleigh dielectric particles are calculated for the scheme.The calculated results indicate that multiple ultra-small focused spots can be achieved,and multiple nanometer-sized particles with refractive index higher than the ambient can be trapped simultaneously near these focused spots,which are expected to enhance the capabilities of traditional optical trapping systems and provide a solution for massive multiple optical trapping of nanometer-sized particles.     

Generation and detection of linearly polarized axially symmetric beam by an amplitude computer-generated hologram

A novel beam combination scheme was proposed to generate high order linearly polarized axially symmetric beam (LPASB) by superposing two Laguerre–Gaussian (LG) beams with opposite azimuthal quantum numbers. An amplitude computer-generated hologram (CGH) was not only used to generate two LG beams but also used in the combination scheme. Amplitude CGH was also used to detect the order of the LPASB.     

Propagation properties of high order axially symmetric polarized beams

The paraxial and non-paraxial propagation properties of high order axially symmetric polarized beams are theoretically studied. The mathematical expressions of the propagation fields for such beams are derived based on vectorial Rayleigh–Sommerfeld formulas. Simulation results are presented for different dimensionless perturbation parameters, which shows the beam propagation intensity distribution and evolution behavior are affected largely by the polarization property of such beams, especially in the non-paraxial regime.     

Formation of linearly polarized light with axial symmetry by use of space-variant subwavelength gratings

We present a novel method for forming linearly polarized axially symmetric beams with various polarization orders that is based on computer-generated space-variant subwavelength gratings. We introduce and experimentally demonstrate that our space-variant polarization state manipulations are accompanied by a phase modification of a helical structure that results from the Pancharatnam-Berry phase. We have verified the polarization properties of our gratings for laser radiation at 10.6-microm wavelength.     

Experimental verification on tightly focused radially polarized vortex beams

The theoretical and experimental results of tightly focused radially polarized vortex beams are demonstrated. An auto-focus technology is introduced into the measurement system in order to enhance the measurement precision, and the radially polarized vortex beams are generated by a liquid-crystal polarization converter and a vortex phase plate. The focused fields of radially polarized vortex beams with different topological charges at numerical apertures （NAs） of 0.65 and 0.85 are measured respectively, and the results indicate that the total intensity distribution at focus is dependent not only on the NA of the focusing objective lens and polarization pattern of the beam but also on the topological charge l of the beam. Some unique focusing properties of radially polarized vortex beams with fractional topological charges are presented based on numerical calculations. The experimental verification paves the way for some practical applications of radially polarized vortex beams, such as in optical trapping, near-field microscopy, and material processing.     

Azimuthally polarized 1 kW CO2 laser with a triple-axicon retroreflector optical resonator

An optical resonator for generating high-power, axially symmetric polarized beams is demonstrated. The rear mirror of a commercial CO(2) laser is replaced by a triple-axicon retroreflector unit that is composed of a waxicon and an axicon accurately fitted together. The selection of the polarization is made by the reflectivity difference between p and s polarizations at the inclined surfaces. Sharp discrimination of polarization within a 0.4% of difference in reflectivity is demonstrated. A stable 1 kW azimuthally polarized LG01 laser beam is generated, and the measured beam quality is 2.0.     

Manipulating Spin-Dependent Wavefronts of Vortex Beams via Plasmonic Metasurfaces

Conventional metasurfaces based on geometric phase are constrained to spin-locked phase profile, resulting in mirrored functionalities for different spins. A single flat device that enables independent manipulation of wavefronts in two orthogonal circularly polarized channels is of paramount importance in wireless and optical communications. In this work, by tuning the dimension and rotation angle of H-shaped meta-atoms to synthesize propagating phase and geometric phase, spin-dependent plasmonic metasurfaces are presented to manipulate circularly polarized waves in the visible band. To verify the capability of spin-dependent wavefront manipulation, three metasurfaces are implemented. The first metasurface generates vortex beams with orbital angular momentum (OAM) l = 1 under left-handed circularly polarized (LCP) incidence and l = 2 under right-handed circularly polarized (RCP) incidence. By introducing convolution operation, the second metasurface is capable of producing vortex beams with different OAMs and different directions for two spins. The third metasurface produces dual-beam and quad-beam with different OAMs for different circular polarizations. This scheme can provide a new pathway in ultracompact nanophotonic devices and systems.     

基于双开口谐振环超表面的宽带太赫兹涡旋光束产生

提出了一种基于双开口谐振环单元结构超表面的太赫兹宽带涡旋光束产生器.该结构由金属-电介质两层构成,位于顶层的是基于双开口谐振环单元结构的超表面,底层为介质层.对单元结构阵列进行数值仿真,圆偏振的入射光可以被转换成相应的交叉偏振透射光,通过旋转表层金属谐振环,可以控制交叉偏振透射光具有相同的振幅和不同的相位.这些单元结构按照特定的规律排列,可以形成用以产生不同拓扑荷数的涡旋光束的涡旋相位板.以拓扑荷数1和2为例,设计了两种涡旋相位板,数值分析了圆偏振波垂直入射到该涡旋相位板生成交叉圆偏振涡旋光束的特性.结果表明,在1.39—1.91 THz的频率范围内产生了比较理想的不同拓扑荷数的涡旋光束,且透过率高于20%,最高可达到24%,接近单层透射式超表面的理论极限值.     

多环涡旋光束的实验研究

涡旋光束的产生、传输与应用是当前光学领域热门的研究课题之一.本文提出的新型多环涡旋光束,包括双环涡旋及三环涡旋光束,它是由多束携带不同拓扑电荷数且束腰半径不同的拉盖尔-高斯涡旋光束共轴叠加而成,其光强分布为多环结构.从理论上研究了多环涡旋光束的形成与分布特征,基于共轭对称延拓Fourier计算全息方法生成了多环涡旋光束的计算全息图,并利用一个空间光调制器实验产生了与理论一致的高质量的多环涡旋光束.研究表明多环涡旋光束的各环携带不同的轨道角动量,空间分布保持相互独立.这种新型的多环涡旋光束相对于携带单一拓扑电荷数的涡旋光束,提供了更多的控制参数和更加多样化的结构分布,因此在光学镊子、光学捕获等微操控以及光通信领域具有潜在的应用潜力.     

Compound Vortex Metalens with Linearly Polarized Encryption

In view of the rapid development of nano-fabrication technology and the wide application of composite vortex fields, a kind of compound vortex metalens with polarization encryption is proposed. The proposed compound vortex metalens can simultaneously generate compound vortex beams with double annular strengths, unequal topological charges, and specific polarization states in different radial regions, which have the characteristic of higher dimensional singularity. The compound vortex metalens consisting of rectangular nanoholes works under linearly polarized light illumination, and the topological charges of the generated compound vortex beam can be modulated through rotating nanoholes. Simulation results and theoretical analysis verify the reliability of polarization-coded compound vortex beam metalens. The variation of polarized encrypted transmission field with the incident polarized angle shows the broader performance of polarization encryption compound vortex metalens. The multiple singularities and polarization encryption properties of the generated compound vortex beams combining with the integrated metasurface will be helpful for broadening the applications of singular beams.     

Properties of circularly polarized vortex beams

The properties of circularly polarized vortex beams in cylindrical polarization bases are studied. A circularly polarized vortex beam is decomposed into radial and azimuthal polarization. With the proper combination of vortex charge and the handedness of the circular polarization, a focal field with an extremely strong longitudinal component as well as a flat-topped profile can be obtained. The cylindrical decomposition also sheds light on the connections between orbital angular momentum and the spin of the light beams.     

Tight focusing of spirally polarized vortex beams

The tight focusing of spirally polarized focused vortex beams is analyzed numerically based on the vectorial Debye theory. The expressions for the electric field and the orbital angular momentum of focused beams are derived. It is shown that the intensity distribution in the focal plane is dependent on the specific spirally polarized state and the coefficient of the spiral polarization function. By presenting the phase contours of the component polarized in the radial direction, it is found that the radii of dislocation lines will increase with the increase of the power of the spirally polarization function. It is reveled that the same orbital angular momentum can be obtained for different spirally polarized state at certain distance along the propagation direction in the focal region. Besides, the orbital angular momentum distributions for different polarized states have fewer crossover points with each other for higher topological charge. The influence of the spirally polarized state on the orbital angular momentum in the focal plane is also studied.     

Electromagnetic torque and force in axially symmetric liquid-crystal droplets

Circularly polarized light exerts torque on birefringent objects. In the case of axially symmetric particles, however, the moment of radiation force balances the direct optical torque. This explains the observation that radial liquid-crystal droplets, in contrast to planar droplets, do not spin in circularly polarized light. The conclusion is in agreement with considerations based on the angular momentum conservation of light [Phys. Rev. Lett.96, 163905 (2006)].     

4Pi focusing of spatially modulated radially polarized vortex beams

We propose a method for generating focal beams with special intensity distributions using radially polarized vortex beams in a 4Pi configuration. A spherical dark-hollow beam and hollow beam array can be obtained by vortex beams with topological charge of m=1. A dark channel can be generated using vortex beams with topological charge of m=2. The length of the well-defined hollow beam array and the dark channel is about 30λ. These interesting beams are useful in optical trapping and manipulation.     

Spin-dependent transverse force on a vortex light beam in an inhomogeneous medium

Spin-dependent effects on vortex light beams propagating in an inhomogeneous medium are demonstrated by solving the full three-component field Maxwell equations using the perturbation analysis. It is found that the hybrid Laguerre–Gauss modes with polarization-orbital angular momentum (OAM) entanglement are the vector solutions of the Maxwell equations in a graded-index medium. Focusing of linearly and circularly polarized vortex light beams in a cylindrical graded-index medium is investigated. It is shown that the vortex light beam undergoes an additional transverse force acting differently on circular polarized beams with opposite handedness. The wave shape variation with distance taking into account the spin–orbit and nonparaxial effects is analyzed. Effect of long-term periodical revival of wave packets due to mode interference in a graded-index cylindrical optical waveguide is demonstrated.     

用四台阶相位板产生涡旋光束

涡旋光束的产生与应用是当前光学领域的研究热点. 利用傅里叶级数展开法分析了四台阶相位板的相位结构, 发现四台阶相位板可看作是由一系列不同拓扑荷数的螺旋相位板所组成, 用线偏振光直接照射相位板时, 将产生多级衍射光波, 各级衍射光均为不同拓扑荷数的涡旋光波, 由于多级衍射光波间的干涉导致光强分布偏离轴对称分布, 因而与涡旋光波有一定差距. 在此基础上, 提出了用四台阶相位板产生涡旋光束的新方案, 借助于Mach-Zehnder 干涉仪光路, 两块四台阶相位板产生的衍射光干涉叠加, 通过调节干涉仪光路的相位差, 使一部分衍射级干涉相消, 另一部分衍射级干涉相长, 相互加强, 从而把线偏振光转换为涡旋光束. 数值模拟计算了几种周期数不同的四台阶相位板衍射光强和角动量分布, 并与螺旋相位板进行比较, 证明用简单的四台阶相位板不仅能够获得与用螺旋相位板相同的涡旋光束, 而且可以用周期数较小的四台阶相位板产生具有大拓扑荷数的涡旋光束, 降低了制作相位板的难度.     

Experimental evidence of high-beta plasma confinement in an axially symmetric gas dynamic trap

In the axially symmetric magnetic mirror device gas dynamic trap (GDT), on-axis transverse beta (ratio of the transverse plasma pressure to magnetic field pressure) exceeding 0.4 in the fast ion turning points has been first achieved. The plasma has been heated by injection of neutral beams, which at the same time produced anisotropic fast ions. Neither enhanced losses of the plasma nor anomalies in the fast ion scattering and slowing down were observed. This observation confirms predicted magnetohydrodynamic stability of plasma in the axially symmetric mirror devices with average min-B, like the GDT is. The measured beta value is rather close to that expected in different versions of the GDT based 14 MeV neutron source for fusion materials testing.     

Structure of a tightly focused vortex beam in the presence of primary coma

Structure of a tightly focused circularly polarized vortex beam in the presence of primary coma has been studied by using Debye-Wolf diffraction integral. The role of topological charge and handedness of the polarization on the focused structure has been discussed. Results have been presented for the total intensity and squares of the polarization components for left-, and right circularly polarized vortex beams. Impact of coma, on the dark core of an azimuthally polarized non-vortex beam is also investigated and compared with the dark core of a circularly polarized vortex beam. The presence of comatic aberration in the focusing system results in a positional shift of the high intensity lobes, and reduction of the intensity on one side of the center. Effect of coma on the focused structure has also been discussed in the context of STED microscopy.