Polarization evolution characteristics of focused hybridly polarized vector fields

We investigate the focusing property and the polarization evolution characteristics of hybridly polarized vector fields in the focal region. Three types of hybridly polarized vector fields, namely azimuthal-variant hybridly polarized vector field, radial-variant hybridly polarized vector field, and spatial-variant hybridly polarized vector field, are experimentally generated. The intensity distributions and the polarization evolution of these hybridly polarized vector fields focused under low numerical aperture (NA) are experimentally studied and good agreements with the numerical simulations are obtained. The three-dimensional (3D) state of polarization and the field distribution within the focal volume of these hybridly polarized vector fields under high-NA focusing are studied numerically. The optical curl force on Rayleigh particles induced by tightly focused hybridly polarized vector fields, which results in the orbital motion of trapped particles, is analyzed. Simulation results demonstrate that polarization-only modulation provided by the hybridly polarized vector field allows one to control both the intensity distribution and 3D elliptical polarization in the focal region, which may find interesting applications in particle trapping, manipulation, and orientation analysis.     

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.     

Optical orbital angular momentum from the curl of polarization

We predict a new category of optical orbital angular momentum that is associated with the curl of polarization and a kind of vector field with radial-variant hybrid states of polarization that can carry such novel optical orbital angular momentum. We present a scheme for creating the desired vector fields. Optical trapping experiments validate that the vector fields, which have no additional phase vortex, exert torques to drive the orbital motion of the trapped isotropic microspheres.     

Measuring the phase of spatially coherent polychromatic fields

Realistic optical fields are never completely monochromatic and the interpretation of the concept of phase is not straightforward. It has been pointed out by Wolf that, if a strict condition of spatial coherence is imposed, the statistically averaged behavior of a polychromatic field can be described by an associated monochromatic wave. We show that, for spatially coherent polychromatic optical fields, the measurement of the phase of the second-order correlations determines the phase of this associated, spatially coherent field. We verify this prediction using a novel interferometric technique for measuring the cross-spectral density of a steady-state optical field.     

Polarization spectrum of three-level atoms in weak polychromatic fields

Differential density matrix equations for a three-level atomic system driven by polychromatic fields are solved numerically. The polarization spectrum of the probe field is obtained. Ultra-narrow resonances in the polarization spectrum on the probe field frequency emerge at multiple harmonics and subharmonics.     

Singularities in speckled speckle

Speckle patterns produced by random optical fields with two (or more) widely different correlation lengths exhibit speckle spots that are themselves highly speckled. Using computer simulations and analytic theory we present results for the point singularities of speckled speckle fields, namely, optical vortices in scalar (one polarization component) fields and C points in vector (two polarization components) fields. In single correlation length fields both types of singularities tend to be more or less uniformly distributed. In contrast, the singularity structure of speckled speckle is anomalous; for some sets of source parameters vortices and C points tend to form widely separated giant clusters, for other parameter sets these singularities tend to form chains that surround large empty regions. The critical point statistics of speckled speckle is also anomalous. In scalar (vector) single correlation length fields phase (azimuthal) extrema are always outnumbered by vortices (C points). In contrast, in speckled speckle fields, phase extrema can outnumber vortices and azimuthal extrema can outnumber C points by factors that can easily exceed 10(4) for experimentally realistic source parameters.     

基于可调谐复振幅滤波器的超长焦深矢量光场

根据矢量光场衍射积分理论和离散复振幅光瞳滤波原理, 通过一种由双λ/2波片和离散复振幅滤波器组成的可调谐复振幅滤波器, 研究了大数值孔径下超长焦深聚焦矢量光场的构建与调控. 给出了一个六环带区的离散复振幅滤波器, 对入射光场的偏振态、振幅滤波和相位滤波三者进行同步优化, 获得了焦深接近10λ的三维平顶光场; 通过调控双λ/2波片夹角来改变聚焦光场的矢量化结构, 使之在光针场、平顶光场、光管场及中间结构光场之间交替变化. 研究结果揭示了入射光场矢量化结构演化与聚焦光场矢量化结构变换之间的关系, 解决了获取动态的、可调控的超长焦深聚焦光场的问题. 两种基本的聚焦光场光针场、光管场的独自使用或三维平顶光场的调和使用, 将会在光学显微、光学微纳操控以及光学精细加工领域获得重要应用.     

Optical polarimetry of random fields

The state of polarization of an optical field provides detailed information concerning both the radiation emission processes and the intricate interaction between light and matter. We report here a novel approach for characterizing the polarization properties of electromagnetic fields for which the electric field vector at a point may fluctuate in three dimensions. Using probes which couple all three components of the field, we were able to extract the polarized and unpolarized components of such fields. Our results constitute the proof of concept for what could be called three-dimensional optical polarimetry.     

Dynamic polarization rotation and vector field steering based on phase change metasurface

Polarization rotation and vector field steering of electromagnetic wave are of great significance in modern optical applications. However, conventional polarization devices are bulky, monofunctional and lack of tunability, which pose great challenges to the miniaturized and multifunctional applications. Herein, we propose a meta-device that is capable of multi-state polarization rotation and vector field steering based on phase change metasurface. The supercell of the meta-device consists of four Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ (GST) elliptic cylinders located on a SiO₂ substrate. By independently controlling the phase state (amorphous or crystalline) of each GST elliptic cylinder, the meta-device can rotate the polarization plane of the linearly polarized incident light to different angles that cover from 19.8° to 154.9° at a wavelength of 1550 nm. Furthermore, by merely altering the phase transition state of GST elliptic cylinders, we successfully demonstrated a vector field steering by generating optical vortices carrying orbital angular momentums (OAMs) with topological charges of 0, 1 and −1, respectively. The proposed method provides a new platform for investigating dynamically tunable optical devices and has potential applications in many fields such as optical communications and information processing.     

Controllable vector bottle-shaped fields generated by focused spatial-variant linearly polarized vector beams

We demonstrate that the optical bottle-shaped fields can be controllably generated by the focused spatial-variant linearly polarized vector beams. Based on the vectorial Rayleigh–Sommerfeld formulas under the paraxial approximation, we present theoretically the analytical expression for the focused field of the vector beam and predict the evolution of the sate of polarization (SoP) in the focal region. Experimentally, we observe the vector bottle-shaped field that is in agreement with the numerical simulations. In particular, we validate that both the SoP and the size of the optical bottle field are manipulated easily by varying the azimuthal topological charge and the radial mode index.     

Shaping of focal field with controllable amplitude,phase, and polarization

We propose a method for configuring the distribution of amplitude, phase, and polarization in the focal region of vector beams. The polarization and phase of incident beam is spatially tailored so that it can produce a focal field that has elaborately prescribed shapes. Our work focuses on the design of a special focus structure with two oval rings, wherein a phase gradient and polarization gradient exist in the inner and outer rings, respectively. The incident light yielding the desired focal field is determined based on an iterative scheme involving vectorial diffraction calculations and fast Fourier transforms. Simulations and experiments demonstrate the generation of a focal field with phase and polarization gradients, which may find applications in optical manipulation.     

Electron spin polarization in field emission: Calculation of the effects due to external fields

In field emission experiments with spin polarized electrons a magnetic field is superposed on the electric emission field to define the preferred spin direction. The motion of the polarization vector in these fields was calculated for rays emanating from individual points of the emitter by integrating the equation of motion and taking into account relativistic terms. There is a slight shift of the polarization vector from its initial direction. If the initial polarization is aligned with the magnetic field and the emission tip is sufficiently well centred in the magnetic field, the tilting of the polarization vector for a beam of electrons starting not too far from the tip apex is less than 10°.     

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.     

对称型闪耀光栅的矢量模态理论

本文将满足均匀矢量亥姆霍兹方程的标准矢量波函数作为基矢对对称型闪耀光栅槽内、外的电磁场分别进行矢量模式和矢量平面波展开。然后通过在槽内外分界面上的场耦合条件得到一组振幅系数方程组。从方程组中求解出相应的振幅系数,就可研究光栅的衍射场分布。该方法适用于对称型闪耀光栅对任意入射方向、任意偏振态入射场衍射问题的研究。在K_2=0入射情况下,其振幅方程组与已发表的文献[6]相同。     

矩孔光栅的矢量模式理论

本文引入满足均匀矢量亥姆霍兹（Ｈｅｌｍｈｏｌｔｚ）方程的矢量波函数作为基矢，对矩孔光栅的孔内外光场分别进行矢量模式展开和矢量平面波展开，并由耦合条件导出了求解展开系数的方程组，从方程组中求解出相应的振幅系数，可研究光栅的衍射场分布，该方法可研究入入射扬方向和偏振任意时的衍射效率和偏振特性等问题。     

Electromodulation spectroscopy of confined systems

The convolution formalism of Aspnes and Rowe for the dielectric function in the presence of an electric field is applied to electromodulation spectroscopy of confined systems. It is shown that for isolated confined systems where excitonic effects are not important, electromodulation spectroscopy leads to first derivative like optical features of two dimensional critical points. For superlattices in weak fields (neglecting excitonic interactions), the familiar third derivative forms of Aspnes and Rowe are applicable. In contrast, when moderate and high electric fields are applied to superlattices, electromodulation spectroscopy will exhibit optical features characteristic of first derivative line shapes. This phenomenon arises because the electric field causes the envelope functions of the electron and hole states to become spatially localized. The importance of excitons and their inhomogeneous broadening to the experimentally observed line shapes are considered.     

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 tomography of the tokamak plasma magnetic field

Optical polarization tomography of the tokamak plasma magnetic field is considered in the context accepted for large magnetic fields. Two models of the interaction between the magnetic field and radiation are studied: (1) the Faraday rotation (FR) of the polarization plane is imposed on birefringence caused by the toroidal component and (2) the Cotton-Mouton effect (CME) is imposed on the FR. Previously, these problems were solved with allowance for only one of the optical effects. New integrals caused by the amplification of the magnetic field are added to ray integrals used earlier. The retrieval of the magnetic field is based on the vector Radon transform (VRT) of imaginary absorption. Formulas of the inverse VRT are derived using generalized conditions from R. Novikov on the Radon transform with absorption.