Visualizing polarization singularities in Bessel-Poincaré beams

V. Shvedov, P. Karpinski, Y. Sheng, X. Chen, W. Zhu, W. Krolikowski, C. Hnatovsky

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    26 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    We demonstrate that an annulus of light whose polarization is linear at each point, but the plane of polarization gradually rotates by π radians can be used to generate Bessel-Poincare beams. In any transverse plane this beam exhibits concentric rings of polarization singularities in the form of L-lines, where the polarization is purely linear. Although the Llines are invisible in terms of light intensity variations, we present a simple way to visualize them as dark rings around a sharp peak of intensity in the beam center. To do this we use a segmented polarizer whose transmission axes are oriented differently in each segment. The radius of the first L-line is always smaller than the radius of the central disk of the zero-order Bessel beam that would be produced if the annulus were homogeneously polarized and had no phase circulation along it.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)12444-12453
    Number of pages10
    JournalOptics Express
    Volume23
    Issue number9
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 4 May 2015

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