Orbital angular momentum transformation of optical vortex with aluminum metasurfaces

Abstract The orbital angular momentum (OAM) transformation of optical vortex is realized upon using aluminum metasurfaces with phase distributions derived from the caustic theory. The generated OAM transformation beam has the well-defined Bessel-like patterns with multiple designed topological charg...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yuchao Zhang, Xiaodong Yang, Jie Gao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2019-06-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-45727-6
Description
Summary:Abstract The orbital angular momentum (OAM) transformation of optical vortex is realized upon using aluminum metasurfaces with phase distributions derived from the caustic theory. The generated OAM transformation beam has the well-defined Bessel-like patterns with multiple designed topological charges from −1 to +2.5 including both the integer-order and fractional-order optical vortices along the propagation. The detailed OAM transformation process is observed in terms of the variations of both beam intensity and phase profiles. The dynamic distributions of OAM mode density in the transformation are further analyzed to illustrate the conservation of the total OAM. The demonstration of transforming OAM states arbitrarily for optical vortex beams will lead to many new applications in optical manipulation, quantum optics, and optical communication.
ISSN:2045-2322