Generation of complex light using uniaxial and biaxial crystals: an efficient and accurate vectorial simulation technique

Abstract

Uniaxial and/or biaxial crystals, because of their birefringent properties, can dramatically change the polarization of the light which travels through them. Based on that, crystals can be and have been used as a versatile tool to generate complex light with spatially structured phases and/or polarizations. To better understand the behavior of light in birefringent materials and to help design the components that generates complex light, we develop a spectrum-of-plane- wave based simulation technique which handles any kind of optical anisotropies. By using the technique in combination with a semi-analytical Fourier transformation, both high numerical efficiency and accuracy can be obtained simultaneously. With this technique we demonstrate several simulation examples, including the generation of single optical vortices using a uniaxial crystal, the generation of Bessel beam using a biaxial crystal, and the generation of a configurable optical bottle beam.