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Bifocal Optical-Vortex Lens with Sorting of the Generated Nonseparable Spin-Orbital Angular-Momentum States

Alwin M. W. Tam1,*, Fan Fan2,†, Tao Du1, Wei Hu3, Wanlong Zhang1, Chenxiang Zhao1, Xiaoqian Wang1, Kwong-Lung Ching1, Guijun Li1 et al.

Hailu Luo2, Vladimir G. Chigrinov1, Shuangchun Wen2, and Hoi-Sing Kwok1

  • 1Partner State Key Laboratory (PSKL) on Advanced Displays and Optoelectronics Technologies, Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon 999077, Hong Kong
  • 2Key Laboratory for Micro-/Nano- Optoelectronic Devices of Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Electronics, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
  • 3National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China

  • *amwtam@connect.ust.hk
  • †eeffan@163.com
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Phys. Rev. Applied 7, 034010 – Published 17 March, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.7.034010

Abstract

In this article, we devise and demonstrate experimentally a polarization-dependent diffractive bifocal vortex lens operating via the Pancharatnam-Berry phase. The interaction between the incident beam and the bifocal vortex lens establishes nonseparable spin and orbital angular-momentum photon states. The components of the nonseparable state associated with different couplings of spin and orbital angular momentum can be sorted by the bifocality of the lens. A theoretical model of the device is developed using Fresnel’s diffraction. The device is simply, efficiently, and economically realized from the optical setup using the underlying physics of Pancharatnam-Berry-phase polarization holography. The measured transmittance and diffraction efficiency of the fabricated device is high—up to 90% and 91%, respectively. Various applications of the polarization bifocal vortex lens in the field of orbital angular-momentum lasing and optical manipulation are discussed. Thus, the bifocal vortex lens can have significant impact on classical and quantum optics, as well as theoretical physics.

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References (40)

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Phys. Rev. Applied 7, 034010– Published 17 March, 2017
  • Received 9 December 2016

© 2017 American Physical Society

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