Analysis of a segmented q-plate tunable retarder for the generation of first-order vector beams

作者：Davis Jeffrey A; Hashimoto Nobuyuki; Kurihara Makoto; Hurtado Enrique; Pierce Melanie; Sanchez Lopez Maria M; Badham Katherine; Moreno Ignacio

来源：Applied Optics, 2015, 54(32): 9583-9590.

DOI：10.1364/AO.54.009583

In this work we study a prototype q-plate segmented tunable liquid crystal retarder device. It shows a large modulation range (5 pi rad for a wavelength of 633 nm and near 2 pi for 1550 nm) and a large clear aperture of one inch diameter. We analyze the operation of the q-plate in terms of Jones matrices and provide different matrix decompositions useful for its analysis, including the polarization transformations, the effect of the tunable phase shift, and the effect of quantization levels (the device is segmented in 12 angular sectors). We also show a very simple and robust optical system capable of generating all polarization states on the first-order Poincare sphere. An optical polarization rotator and a linear retarder are used in a geometry that allows the generation of all states in the zero-order Poincare sphere simply by tuning two retardance parameters. We then use this system with the q-plate device to directly map an input arbitrary state of polarization to a corresponding first-order vectorial beam. This optical system would be more practical for high speed and programmable generation of vector beams than other systems reported so far. Experimental results are presented.

• 出版日期2015-11-10