Chen Wang

The resolution of the spatial light modulator (SLM) screen and the encoding algorithm of the computer-generated hologram are the primary limiting factors in the generation of large topological charge vortex beams. This paper attempts to solve these problems by improving both the hardware and the algorithm. Theoretically, to overcome the limitations of beam waist radius, the amplitude profile function of large topological charge Laguerre–Gaussian (LG) beam is properly improved. Then, an experimental system employing a 4K phase-only SLM is set up, and the LG beams with topological charge up to 1200 are successfully generated. Furthermore, we discuss the effect of different beam waist radii on the generation of LG beams. Additionally, the function of the LG beam is further improved to generate an LG beam with a topological charge as high as 1400. Our results set a new benchmark for generating large topological charge vortex beams, which can be widely used in precise measurement, sensing, and communication.

The optical vortex has already found lots of applications in various domains. Among such applications, the precise and quantitative mode analysis of optical vortices is of great significance. In this work, we experimentally validate a simple method to analyze the mode of an already known optical field with collinear holography based on the phase-shifting technology. Further, we propose a ring interference strategy to improve the accuracy of mode analysis. In the proof-of-concept experiment, the complex amplitude is characterized, and the mode purity is well analyzed. This method has excellent accuracy and rapidity, which can be implemented in micro-manipulation, optical communication, and rotation speed measurement based on the rotating Doppler effect.

A new, to the best of our knowledge, method for directly measuring the skew angle of a Poynting vector of optical vortices is reported in this Letter. We design an incomplete optical vortex phase to mimic the occlusion of actual objects on the light path. By capturing the intensity cross section of the incomplete vortex field, the energy flow can be observed directly; thus, the skew angle of the Poynting vector can be directly measured. In this Letter, we measure the skew angle of the Poynting vector with an error less than 3%. Further, the work in this Letter may provide a new way to sense the translational distance and measure the topological charge of the optical vortex.

The optical rotational Doppler effect (RDE) is closely related to the unique orbital angular momentum (OAM) carried by optical vortex, whose topological charge means the mode of OAM. Compared with the coaxial incidence, the rotational Doppler frequency shift spectrum of a misaligned optical vortex (misaligned RDE) widens according to a certain law. In this paper, an OAM modal decomposition method of the misaligned optical RDE is proposed and the relative intensity of different OAM modes, namely the OAM spectrum, is derived based on an inner product computation. Analyses show that lateral displacements and angular deflections change the distribution of OAM modes relative to the rotation axis of the object. A misaligned Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) vortex can be represented as a specific combination of coaxial LG modes, and the difference between the topological charge of two adjacent modes is 1 or 2 with lateral displacements or angular deflections respectively. An experiment of misaligned optical RDE using a superimposed LG vortex is executed, and the obtained frequency shift spectrum with misaligned incidence expands into a set of discrete signals, which agrees well with the theoretical results. Moreover, we can get the rotation frequency of the object from an expanded frequency spectrum more quickly and accurately based on the difference between two adjacent signal peaks. The proposed method contributes to analyze the misaligned optical RDE comprehensively, which is significant in remote sensing and optical metrology.

We generate a new type of perfect optical vortex called the polygonal perfect optical vortex (PPOV) by combining the Bessel-Gauss beam with the high-order cross-phase (HOCP) at the plane of a spatial light modulator (SLM). This is the first time that the HOCP is applied to the Fourier plane of an optical field (POV) instead of directly acting on an optical field itself. Experimentally, the symmetrical PPOV is generated, and the capability of asymmetric distribution is demonstrated. Furthermore, we discuss the influence of parameters on a PPOV. On this basis, we show a novel function of the PPOV that can adjust the energy distribution at the vertices while maintaining the orbital angular momentum as much as possible, which facilitates applications in optical micro-manipulation. © 2020 Optical Society of America

The capability to detect the rotational speed of non-cooperative targets in a long distance is a difficult problem to be solved. In recent years, vortex light provides a feasible solution for the measurement of rotational speed for its spiral phase and the orbital angular momentum. Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) mode, as the typical vortex beam, has been widely employed in rotational Doppler effect (RDE) experiments. Here, we show that the nonzero radial index LG beam not only has a specific physical meaning but also can enhance the light intensity and the amplitude of RDE frequency signal relative to a zero radial index LG beam. To this end, we theoretically analyze the reason of intensity enhancement of a nonzero radial index beam and verify the conclusion in a variable control experiment. Our study provides a new aspect of LG beams that can be considered in rotational speed detection based on RDE. It may produce an improvement of the detection range of rotating targets in practical applications.

Rotational Doppler effect (RDE) has attracted much attention in recent years which opens new avenues to angular velocity measurement. However, most previous studies used single-frequency vortex light as the detection beam so that the rotational Doppler signal is in the low frequency domain where most of noise signals exist. In this article, we use the dual-frequency 2-fold multiplexed vortex light as the probe beam and transform the Doppler signals from the low frequency domain to the high frequency domain successfully. The results show hardly any noise compared with the measurement in the low frequency domain. More importantly, the direction of rotation can be obtained directly by comparing the modulated signal and the reference signal. Our work demonstrates a new detection method for the RDE and provides a reference for its practical application.

The light-driven quantum vortex gyroscope constructed based on the quantized vortices of photoexcitation exciton-polaritons (E-Ps) Bose-Einstein Condensates (BECs) is a new all-optical device with great application potential. This paper carries out in-depth research on the stability of the semiconductor microcavity exciton-polaritons condensates vortices superposition system in the quantum vortex gyroscope. Simultaneously we constructed a time-independent model describing the stability of the system and a dynamic model describing the system's evolution. Based on this, we proceed from the eigen solution to analyze the different stable excitation pump threshold characteristics of the superposition state of the exciton-polaritons fluid in the ring trap with different orbital angular momentum (OAM) driven by the pump laser beam due to the nonlinear effect. Meanwhile, the differentiated dynamic evolution characteristics of exciton-polaritons wave function from eigenmode to high-order modes under different pump beam conditions are analyzed. Furthermore, several typical propagation modes are selected to analyze the influence of pump beam intensity perturbation on the system's stability. The self-consistent nature of the non-time-dependent stability judgment method and the time-dependent evolution dynamics process are verified in all the above studies. Finally, we obtained a series of conclusions that variable feedback occurs when the quantum vortex gyroscope exciton-polaritons condensates system with different potential well depths and different orbital angular momentum is impacted by the influence of the pump intensity noise. These conclusions are of great significance to the engineering realization of the quantum vortex gyroscope.

Increasing demand for practical applications is forcing more in-depth research into optical vortices (OVs): from the generation and measurement to the shaping and multi-singularity manipulation of OVs. Herein, we propose a new type of phase structure called the high-order cross-phase (HOCP), which can be employed to modulate OVs to implement polygonal shaping and multi-singularity manipulation simultaneously at far-field. Theoretically, we investigate the propagation characteristics of OVs modulated by a HOCP. In experiments, we achieve the polygonal shaping and multi-singularity manipulation of OVs via HOCPs. On this basis, we discuss the relationship between shapes and the orders of HOCPs, where we find that the order of a HOCP is exactly equal to the number of sides of polygonal OVs. This work provides a novel method to achieve polygonal shaping and multi-singularity manipulation simultaneously, which facilitate applications in optical micro-manipulation and optical communication.

An erratum is presented to correct funding section of [ Opt. Express 27, 24781 (2019)10.1364/OE.27.024781 .