Open AccessVortex phase elements as detectors of polarization state
Author(s) -
С. Н. Хонина,
Dmitry Savelyev,
Nikolay L. Kazanskiy
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.23.017845
Subject(s) - axicon , optics , polarization (electrochemistry) , physics , vortex , numerical aperture , optical vortex , radial polarization , detector , circular polarization , ptychography , diffraction , laser beams , beam (structure) , laser , laser beam quality , wavelength , chemistry , thermodynamics , microstrip
We suggest vortex phase elements to detect the polarization state of the focused incident beam. We analytically and numerically show that only the types of polarization (linear, circular, or cylindrical) can be distinguished in the low numerical aperture (NA) mode. Sharp focusing is necessary to identify the polarization state in more detail (direction or sign). We consider a high NA micro-objective and a diffractive axicon as focusing systems. We show that the diffractive axicon more precisely detects the polarization state than does the micro-objective with the same NA.