Laguerre–Gaussian modal q-plates

Mushegh Rafayelyan (1) , Etienne Brasselet (1)

1 LOMA - Laboratoire Ondes et Matière d'Aquitaine

We propose space-variant uniaxial flat optical elements designed to generate pure Laguerre–Gaussian modes with arbitrary azimuthal and radial indices l and p from an incident Gaussian beam. This is done via the combined use of the dynamic and the geometric phases. Optimal design protocol for the mode conversion efficiency is derived, and the corresponding characteristics are given for −6≤l≤6 and 0≤p≤5. The obtained “modal q-plates” may find many applications whenever the radial degree of freedom of a light field is at play.

Keywords: Laser beam shaping; Optical vortices

Domains: Optics [physics.optics]

Mushegh Rafayelyan, Etienne Brasselet. Laguerre–Gaussian modal q-plates. Optics Letters, 2017, 42 (10), pp.1966 - 1969. ⟨10.1364/OL.42.001966⟩. ⟨hal-01520388⟩