Open AccessUsing a plenoptic sensor to reconstruct vortex phase structures
Author(s) -
Chensheng Wu,
Jonathan Ko,
Christophér C. Davis
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
optics letters/optics index
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.524
H-Index - 272
eISSN - 1071-2763
pISSN - 0146-9592
DOI - 10.1364/ol.41.003169
Subject(s) - optics , optical vortex , distortion (music) , vortex , phase (matter) , physics , beam (structure) , point (geometry) , light beam , geometry , mathematics , optoelectronics , amplifier , cmos , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics
A branch point problem and its solution commonly involve recognizing and reconstructing a vortex phase structure around a singular point. In laser beam propagation through random media, the destructive phase contributions from various parts of a vortex phase structure will cause a dark area in the center of the beam's intensity profile. This null of intensity can, in turn, prevent the vortex phase structure from being recognized. In this Letter, we show how to use a plenoptic sensor to transform the light field of a vortex beam so that a simple and direct reconstruction algorithm can be applied to reveal the vortex phase structure. As a result, we show that the plenoptic sensor is effective in detecting branch points and can be used to reconstruct phase distortion in a beam in a wide sense.