Creation of topological vortices using Pancharatnam-Berry phase liquid crystal holographic plates**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11634010, 91850118, 11774289, 61675168, and 11804277), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFA0303800), the Joint Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the China Academy of Engineering Physics (Grant No.

Abstract

Recently, physical fields with topological configurations are evoking increasing attention due to their fascinating structures both in fundamental researches and practical applications. Therein, topological light fields, because of their unique opportunity of combining experimental and analytical studies, are attracting more interest. Here, based on the Pancharatnam–Berry (PB) phase, we report the creation of Hopf linked and Trefoil knotted optical vortices by using phase-only encoded liquid crystal (LC) holographic plates. Utilizing scanning measurement and the digital holographic interference method, we accurately locate the vortex singularities and map these topological nodal lines in three-dimensions. Compared with the common methods realized by the spatial light modulator (SLM), the phase-only LC plate is more efficient. Meanwhile, the smaller pixel size of the LC element reduces the imperfection induced by optical misalignment and pixellation. Moreover, we analyze the influence of the incident beam size on the topological configuration.