Pixel level control of amplitude, phase, and polarization of an arbitrary vector beam

Abstract

The generation of vector beams with complex spatial distributions is significant in the field of optical manipulation, optical metrology, optical microscopy, and so on. In this work, we propose a method to generate arbitrary vector beams, which is based on the complex amplitude beam shaping technology and the interferometric optical path configuration. With the method, we can achieve pixel-level control of amplitude, phase, and polarization of an arbitrary vector beam. Furthermore, different polarization states and orientations can be designed to coexist in one beam. The method has been verified with theoretical analysis and experimental results. The proposed method expands the application range of vector beams and provides a conducive way to explore the optical properties of the vector beams.