Abstract
We demonstrate the possibility to create optical beams with phase singularities engraved into exotic intensity landscapes imitating the shapes of a large variety of diverse plane curves. To achieve this aim, we have developed a method for directly encoding the geometric properties of some selected curve into a single azimuthal phase factor without passing through indirect encryption methods based on lengthy numerical procedures. The outcome is utilized to mould the optic axis distribution of a liquid-crystal-based inhomogeneous waveplate. The latter is finally used to sculpt the wavefront of an input optical gaussian beam via Pancharatnam-Berry phase.
Highlights
Light sculpting has gained increasing importance in both fundamental and applied optics [1]
We introduce a method for designing Spatially Varying Axis Plates (SVAPs) enabling the generation of scalar optical beams with non-linear azimuthal phase structures, giving birth to phase singularities engraved within non-cylindrically symmetric intensity profiles
Though pure-phase holograms displayed on spatial light modulators (SLMs) could be used to create Free-Form Dark-Hollow” (FFDH) beams, fabricating optical devices based on Geometric Phase has proved to be the bestperforming choice and the most natural, since the unit normal distribution deduced from a generating curve is directly translated into an optic axis pattern
Summary
Light sculpting has gained increasing importance in both fundamental and applied optics [1]. We introduce a method for designing SVAPs enabling the generation of scalar optical beams with non-linear azimuthal phase structures, giving birth to phase singularities engraved within non-cylindrically symmetric intensity profiles. We avoid passing through indirect methods for encoding the amplitude and phase of the target field into a single phase function [31], though the price to be paid is that only some features of the intensity profile and of the OAM spectrum will be precisely determined Despite these apparent limitations, our method spontaneously leads us to introduce the concept of dark hollow beams with tailored intensity profiles or “Free-Form Dark-Hollow” (FFDH) Beams. Replacing the doughnut with an FFDH beam, the illumination area would acquire a non-circular shape, suitable for optimally sending photons to zones where they are really required and/or to prevent them from damaging the surrounding areas
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