Abstract

The cascade conical refraction occurs when a collimated light beam is passed consequently along the optic axes of several biaxial crystals arranged in a series. For commonly used optical arrangements, the general structure of light emerging from such a cascade is rigorously determined by the used crystals, leaving few possibilities for the variations of the established light pattern. A simple modification of a two-crystal arrangement where one of the two crystals is placed beyond the imaging lens is reported. This modification adds an extreme versatility to the effect and allows one to tune continuously the actual cascade parameters. As a result, practically any pattern of two-crystal cascade conical refraction can be obtained for any pair of biaxial crystals.

© 2015 Optical Society of America

Interplay of vortex and non-vortex beam components in a variable two-crystal cascade conical refraction

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Optical trapping using cascade conical refraction of light

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Multiple rings formation in cascaded conical refraction

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