Volume 19, Issue 12 2402290
Research Article

Generation of Arbitrary Vector Vortex Beam Using a Single Q-Plate

Junna Yao

Junna Yao

Department of Optics and Optical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026 China

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Shuimei Wu

Shuimei Wu

Department of Optics and Optical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026 China

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Xiangle Li

Xiangle Li

Department of Optics and Optical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026 China

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Junqiu Liu

Junqiu Liu

International Quantum Academy, Shenzhen, 518048 China

Hefei National Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230088 China

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Qiwen Zhan

Qiwen Zhan

School of Optical-Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093 China

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Anting Wang

Corresponding Author

Anting Wang

Department of Optics and Optical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026 China

E-mail: [email protected]

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First published: 17 March 2025
Citations: 1

Abstract

Vector vortex beams (VVBs) exhibit both helical phase and anisotropic polarization distributions, offering extensive application potential. Here a method is presented with only one single q-plate to implement the simultaneous manipulation to the phase and polarization distributions of VVBs by exploiting the geometric phase-based spin-to-orbit conversion. According to the geometric properties of the traditional Poincaré sphere, a phase delay system constituted of two quarter-wave plates and a mirror to realize the evolution of arbitrary VVB is used on the Hybrid-order Poincaré sphere (HyPS). In the proof-of-principle experiment, different VVBs on the same HyPS and VVBs on different HyPSs are generated and detected, and both the phase and polarization topological charges are up to 16. The change in the polarization state of VVBs during propagation caused by the Gouy phase shift is also discussed in this work. The proposed method is simple, cost-effective, and easily integrable, providing a rapid and efficient approach for the flexible generation of VVBs

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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