Abstract

We present a novel approach to generating radially and azimuthally polarized vector beams that utilize an interferometer constructed from two identical diffractive optical elements. The measured polarization properties of four vector beam states and their phase relationships are in good agreement with theoretical expectations. This interferometer is passively phase stable and robust, making it suitable for linear and nonlinear optical (superresolution) microscopy.

© 2005 Optical Society of America

Cylindrical vector beam generator using a two-element interferometer

Job Mendoza-Hernández, Manuel F. Ferrer-Garcia, Jorge Arturo Rojas-Santana, and Dorilian Lopez-Mago
Opt. Express 27(22) 31810-31819 (2019)

Polarization converter for higher-order laser beams using a single binary diffractive optical element as beam splitter

Svetlana N. Khonina, Sergey V. Karpeev, and Sergey V. Alferov
Opt. Lett. 37(12) 2385-2387 (2012)

Vector iterative algorithm for the design of diffractive optical elements applied to uniform illumination

Yiqiong Zhao, Yong-Ping Li, and Qiu-Gui Zhou
Opt. Lett. 29(7) 664-666 (2004)

Generating hypergeometric laser beams with a diffractive optical element

V. V. Kotlyar, A. A. Kovalev, R. V. Skidanov, S. N. Khonina, and J. Turunen
Appl. Opt. 47(32) 6124-6133 (2008)

Generating inhomogeneously polarized higher-order laser beams by use of diffractive optical elements

Svetlana N. Khonina and Sergei V. Karpeev
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 28(10) 2115-2123 (2011)