Partially coherent radially polarized fractional vortex beam

Evolution of coherence singularities in polarization singular beams

The evolution of correlation singularities in partially coherent polarization singular beams (PC-PSBs) is investigated. Since PSBs are the superposition of two orthogonally polarized vortex beams, the occurrence of coherence singularities in PC-PSBs is strongly governed by the topological charge of the component vortex beams and the spatial coherence length. Coherence singularities appear in the form of ring dislocations in the modulus of the spectral degree of coherence (SDoC) profile, and the number of ring dislocations is equal to the higher value of the topological charge of the superposing vortex beam. Furthermore, the SDoC phase profile can be used to determine the polarity of a PC-PSB. The findings of the study could be valuable in various applications that rely on the spatial coherence of beams, such as free-space communication and imaging.

Detection of fluid motion direction based on the rotational Doppler effect of grafted perfect vortex beam

Vortex beams have attracted much attention due to their unique rotational Doppler effect. With the in-depth study of vortex beams, many new vortex beams have been proposed gradually, while the detection of fluid motion is of great significance for the study of ocean turbulence. Based on the rotational Doppler effect of the grafted perfect vortex beam, we propose a non-embedded optical method for real-time detection of the magnitude and direction of fluid velocity and establish a two-dimensional fluid model for simulation verification. It is proved that the grafted perfect vortex beam can detect the magnitude and direction of the fluid velocity at the same time, which may provide a new way and theoretical support for the detection of fluid motion direction.

Modified Huygens-Fresnel method for the propagation of partially coherent beams through turbulence

Partially coherent beams (PCBs) have been extensively studied as a method to mitigate the deleterious effects of atmospheric turbulence for applications such as free-space optical communication. However, it can be difficult to study and assess the performance of PCBs in turbulence due to the complicated physics of the atmosphere and the wide variety of PCBs possible. Here, we introduce a modified approach to study the propagation of second-order field moments of PCBs analytically in turbulence, reformulating the problem in terms of free-space propagation of the beam. We illustrate the method by studying a Gaussian Schell-model beam in turbulence.

Coherence-induced depolarization effects in polarization singular beams

We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally coherence-induced depolarization effects in generic and higher index polarization singular beams endowed with C-point (or V-point) polarization singularity. The irradiance profiles and degree of polarization (DoP) distributions are found to be governed by spatial coherence length, polarization singularity index, and orbital angular momentum (OAM) of the superposition states of the beams. On reducing the coherence length, the DoP distribution in the V-point deteriorates uniformly. In contrast, C-point beams resist depolarization exhibiting anti-depolarization around the central core of the beam due to the nonzero net OAM of the beam. Interestingly, the polarization vortex structure remains preserved on reducing the spatial coherence length.

Evolution behavior of the coherent vortex dipole in oceanic turbulence

The propagation of a Gaussian Schell-model (GSM) beam with a coherent vortex dipole (CVD) through oceanic turbulence is studied in detail. The creation and annihilation of the CVDs occur with propagation, which is similar to the case of atmospheric turbulence. However, the appearance and vanishment of a coherent vortex may occur by varying the propagation distance, oceanic turbulence parameters, or beam parameters, which is different from the case of atmospheric turbulence. The stronger the oceanic turbulence, the faster the evolution process of the CVD carried by GSM beams.

Generation of volumetrically full Poincaré beams

Optical communications, remote sensing, particle trapping, and high-resolution imaging are a few research areas that benefit from new techniques to generate structured light. We present a method of generating polarization-structured laser beams that contain both full and partial polarization states. We demonstrate this method by generating an optical beam that contains every state of partial and full polarization. We refer to this beam as a volumetrically full Poincaré beam to distinguish it from full Poincaré beams, which contain all states of full polarization only. In contrast to methods relying upon spatial coherence to generate polarization-structured beams with partial polarization, our method creates well-collimated beams by relying upon temporal coherence.

Influences of salinity and temperature on propagation of radially polarized rotationally-symmetric power-exponent-phase vortex beams in oceanic turbulence

In this paper, the propagation properties of radially polarized rotationally-symmetric power-exponent-phase vortex beams (RP-RSPEPVBs) in oceanic turbulence were theoretically and experimentally studied. Based on the extended Huygens-Fresnel diffraction integral and vector beams theories, the theoretical propagation model of RP-RSPEPVBs in the oceanic turbulence was established. Then, the numerical simulations were carried out to study the influences of the propagation distance z, the rate of dissipation of turbulence kinetic energy per unit mass of fluid ε, the temperature-salinity contribution ratio ω, and the dissipation rate of the mean-squared temperature χT on the optical intensity, spectral degree of polarization (DOP) and spectral degree of coherence (DOC) of RP-RSPEPVBs. Further, an experiment setup was demonstrated to confirm the influences of salinity and temperature on propagation of RP-RSPEPVBs in oceanic turbulence. The results showed that increasing salinity, propagation distance, and turbulence intensity, will result in beam diffusion and intensity reduction of the RP-RSPEPVBs, as well as depolarization and decoherence. Contrarily, high temperature mitigated the intensity loss of the RP-RSPEPVBs and the spectral DOP and spectral DOC increased when the turbulence tends to be dominated by temperature. As a vector beam, the RP-RSPEPVB shows well anti-turbulence interference characteristics, which provides a new choice for optical underwater communication and imaging.

Statistical properties of a partially coherent vector beam with controllable spatial coherence, vortex phase, and polarization

We report on a partially coherent radially polarized power-exponent-phase vortex (PC-RP-PEPV) beam with various distributions of intensity, controllable coherence width, vortex phase, and polarization. The statistical properties of the PC-RP-PEPV beam depend on topological charge, power order, polarization states, and coherence width, which differ from those of conventional radially polarized beams. Here, the initial radial polarization state will transform to complex ellipse polarization state during propagation. By modulating the topological charge of the PC-RP-PEPV beam, the intensity structure of the beam can be adjusted from circular to polygonal. Finally, PC-RP-PEPV beams were experimentally generated, and were consistent with numerical simulation results. This work has applications in optical manipulation, optical measurements, and optical information processing.

Superimposed Hermite-Gaussian-correlated Schell-model beam with multiple off-axis vortices

We first introduce a class of a superimposed Hermite-Gaussian-correlated Schell model with a multiple off-axis vortices beam, with the side lobe of the beam carrying one to four vortex singularities at the source plane. Subsequently, the variation laws of this beam after being focused by a thin lens are studied theoretically to obtain the optimal beam parameters. The numerical simulation results show that the beam possesses a unique multiple vortex structure, phase structure, and orbital angular momentum. Its intensity resembles a spiral staircase rotating around the axes. The rotational symmetry property of the transverse energy flow along the z axis was broken by the vortices. The hot spot position can be adjusted flexibly by changing the off-axis distance of vortices. This study is of great significance for nondestructive capture and manipulation of multiple particles or cells.

Spoon-like Beams Generated with Exponential Phases

In this paper, we report a new kind of beam, named “spoon-like” beams, generated with the exponential phase. The intensity distributions and transverse energy flow of the spoon-like beam at the focal plane are analyzed theoretically and experimentally. The results demonstrate that the size of the spoon-like beam becomes enlarged with the increasing power exponent n, and the length of the spoon-like intensity trajectory becomes shorter with the increasing parameter p. Furthermore, there is an intensity gradient along the spoon-like trajectory of the beam, which introduces the intensity-gradient force exerted onto microparticles. The experiment on optical tweezers demonstrates that the focused beams can create spoon-like traps for the two-dimensional manipulation of particles.

Radially polarized twisted partially coherent vortex beams

We introduce a new type of partially coherent vector beam, named the radially polarized twisted partially coherent vortex (RPTPCV) beam. Such a beam carries the twist phase and the vortex phase simultaneously, and the initial state of polarization (SOP) is radially polarized. On the basis of the pseudo-modal expansion and fast Fourier transform algorithm, the second-order statistics such as the spectral density, the degree of polarization (DOP) and the SOP, propagation through a paraxial ABCD optical system are investigated in detail through numerical examples. The results reveal that the propagation properties of the RPTPCV beam closely depends on the handedness of the twist phase and the vortex phase. When the handedness of the two phases is same, the beam profile is easier to remain a dark hollow shape and the beam spot rotates faster during propagation, compared to the partially coherent vortex beam or the RPTPCV beam with the opposite handedness of the two phases. In addition, the same handedness of two phases resists the coherence induced de-polarization of the beam upon propagation, and the SOP is also closely related to the handedness, topological charge of the vortex phase and the twist factor of the twist phase, providing an efficient way to modulate the beam's DOP and SOP in the output plane. Moreover, we establish an experiment setup to generate the RPTPCV beam. The average spectral density and the polarization properties are examined in the experiment. The experimental results agree reasonable well with the theoretical predictions. Our results will be useful for particle manipulating, free-space optical communications, and polarization lidar systems.

Shaping the focal intensity distribution using a partially coherent radially polarized beam with multiple off-axis vortices

A new kind of partially coherent vector vortex beam, namely, the partially coherent radially polarized (PCRP) beam with multiple off-axis vortices, is introduced, and the average intensity distributions of such vortex beam focused by a thin lens are investigated theoretically. It is novelty that the off-axis vortices will induce the focal intensity redistribution and reconstruction, while this remarkable characteristic will be vanished in the case of a very low coherence. In view of this distinctive feature, a new method has been put forward to shape or modulate the focal intensity distribution by elaborately tailoring the multiple off-axis vortices as well as the coherence length. More importantly, some peculiar focal fields with novel structures, such as bar-shaped, triangle-shaped, square-shaped, and pentagon-shaped hollow profiles or flat-top foci, are obtained. Our results indicate that modulating the multiple off-axis vortices provides an additional degree of freedom for focus shaping.

Coherence-induced polarization effects in vector vortex beams

We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally coherence-induced polarization changes in higher-order vector vortex beams (VVBs) with polarization singularity. The prominent depolarization on decreasing the transverse correlation width in a focused partially coherent VVB provides a means to shape the intensity profile and degree of polarization (DOP) while preserving the polarization distribution. The intensity variation and DOP dip are found to be dependent on the polarization singularity index of the beam. Our results may provide an additional degree of freedom in myriad applications presently projected with VVBs.