Spin-dependent manipulating of vector beams by tailoring polarization.

Junxiao Zhou,Shuangchun Wen,Hailu Luo,Yachao Liu,Yuanyuan Liu,Yougang Ke,Wenshuai Zhang

doi:10.1038/srep34276

Abstract

We examine the spin-dependent manipulating of vector beams by tailoring the inhomogeneous polarization. The spin-dependent manipulating is attributed to the spin-dependent phase gradient in vector beams, which can be regarded as the intrinsic feature of inhomogeneous polarization. The desired polarization can be obtained by establishing the relationship between the local orientation of polarization and the local orientation of the optical axis of waveplate. We demonstrate that the spin-dependent manipulating with arbitrary intensity patterns can be achieved by tailoring the inhomogeneous polarization.

Highlights

Polarization is a fundamental property of light that has received much attention in the light-matter interactions
We propose a general mode to achieve the spin-dependent manipulation of vector beams by tailoring inhomogeneous polarization, which is focused on spin-dependent splitting and extended to spin-dependent focusing
When a fundamental Gaussian beam is modulated by inhomogeneous polarization, the different spin states can be achieved in the far field

Summary

Introduction

Polarization is a fundamental property of light that has received much attention in the light-matter interactions. One other special example is laser beams with cylindrical symmetry in polarization, the so-called cylindrical vector beams. The spin-dependent splitting can be observed by breaking the rotation symmetry of cylindrical vector beam. This novel kind of spin-dependent splitting occurs in momentum space and can be directly observed in the far field[18,19], which is considered from the point of view in azimuthal phase gradient[20]. We propose a general mode to achieve the spin-dependent manipulation of vector beams by tailoring inhomogeneous polarization, which is focused on spin-dependent splitting and extended to spin-dependent focusing. When a fundamental Gaussian beam is modulated by inhomogeneous polarization, the different spin states can be achieved in the far field. It offers the evidence to support that the spin-dependent manipulating of the vector beam is caused by its intrinsic feature of inhomogeneous polarization

Methods

Results

Conclusion