Generation of arbitrary vector Bessel beams on higher-order Poincaré spheres with an all-dielectric metasurface

Abstract

Vector Bessel beams may have a spatially varying polarization state combined with a Bessel-type transversal intensity profile. Such beams can carry both spin angular momentum and orbital angular momentum (OAM) and be characterized by points on higher-order Poincar\'e (HOP) spheres. We report a method to produce vector Bessel beams on any point of a HOP sphere of any topological charge by utilizing only a single all-dielectric planar metasurface. Specifically, by a proper choice of the input polarization and distance from the metasurface, the entire HOP sphere surface can be covered. The proposed method is simple and efficient and applies to any $n\mathrm{th}$-order HOP sphere. Furthermore, it yields an extremely high OAM mode purity. Our paper demonstrates a robust approach for generating arbitrary high-quality vector Bessel beams and will likely inspire future applications ranging from optical manipulation to laser beam engineering.