Spin-orbit coupling induced polarization transform in the autofocusing of ring Airy beams with hybrid polarizations.

Abstract

Manipulating polarization is of significance for the application of light. Spin-orbit coupling provides a prominent pathway for manipulating the polarization of light field but generally requires tight focusing conditions or anisotropic media. In this paper, we construct ring Airy beams with hybrid polarizations and reveal the controllable polarization transforms in their autofocusing dynamics by manipulating concomitant spin-orbit coupling in free space. The numerical and experimental results show that the polarization transform is dependent on the azimuthal orders of amplitude and vortex phases of two spin constituents of ring Airy beams, that the focal spots present pure linear polarization whose orientation is determined by the initial phase when the vortex phase topological charge is equal to the amplitude angular factor, otherwise, the focal fields present cylindrical vector polarizations whose orders depend on the difference of amplitude angular orders and topological charges. Our work provides new insights for studying spin-orbit interactions and the depolarization of complex polarization.