Deformable polarization singularity array by superimposed Ince–Gaussian beams

Abstract

We present a numerical and experimental study of polarization singularity arrays, which are generated by the coherent superposition of orthogonal, linearly polarized, even and odd Ince–Gaussian (IG) beams. The generated array consists of multiple polarization singularities of different types. The type of the polarization singularities can be adjusted effectively by switching the linear polarization states of two IG modes and by modifying the relative phase factor. In addition, we study the evolution of the arrays with the ellipticity parameter, which leads to the splitting and spatial rearrangement of polarization singularities. This work may have implications for material processing, optical trapping, and manipulation.