Open AccessPancharatnam-Berry optical element sorter of full angular momentum eigenstate
Author(s) -
Gary F. Walsh
Publication year - 2016
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.24.006689
Subject(s) - angular momentum , physics , optics , polarization (electrochemistry) , orbital angular momentum of light , orbital angular momentum multiplexing , geometric phase , angular momentum of light , optical vortex , eigenvalues and eigenvectors , angular spectrum method , total angular momentum quantum number , quantum mechanics , angular momentum coupling , diffraction , chemistry
We propose and numerically demonstrate a Pancharatnam-Berry optical element (PBOE) device that simultaneously sorts spin (SAM) and orbital (OAM) angular momentum. This device exploits the circular polarization selective properties of PBOEs to modulate independently the orthogonal SAM eigenstates within a geometric optical transformation that sorts OAM, enabling single measurement characterization of the full angular momentum eigenstate. This expands the available state space for OAM communication and enables characterization of the eigenmode composition of structured polarization beams. We define the two-dimensional orientation patterns of the transversely varying half-waveplate PBOEs that implement the angular momentum sorter. We show that the device discriminates the OAM and SAM eigenstates of optical beams including laser cavity modes such as Laguerre-Gaussian OAM eigenmodes, Hermite-Gaussian modes, and hybrid modes with complex structured polarization. We also demonstrate that it can determine the m parameter of higher order LGml Laguerre-Gaussian modes. The ability of this device to decode information from spatially structured optical phase has potential for applications in communication, encryption, modal characterization, and scientific measurements.