Composite vortex beams by coaxial superposition of Laguerre–Gaussian beams

We propose the generation of novel composite vortex beams by coaxial superposition of Laguerre–Gaussian (LG) beams with common waist position and waist parameter. Computer-generated holography by conjugate-symmetric extension is applied to produce the holograms of several composite vortex beams. Utilizing the holograms, fantastic light modes including optical ring lattice, double dark-ring and double bright-ring composite vortex beams etc. are numerically reconstructed. The generated composite vortex beams show diffraction broadening with some of them showing dynamic rotation around beam centers while propagating. Optical experiments based on a computer-controlled spatial light modulator (SLM) verify the numerical results. These novel composite vortex beams possess more complicated distribution and more controllable parameters for their potential application in comparison to conventional optical ring lattice.     

Electro-optically generating and controlling right- and left-handed circularly polarized multiring modes of light beams

We propose a simple method for generating and controlling right- and left-handed circularly polarized (RHP and LHP) multiring modes of light beams by means of Pockels effect in a single strontium barium niobate (SBN) crystal. The numerical results show that an LHP Laguerre-Gaussian LG(0l) beam, propagating along the optical axis of the crystal, will partly turn into an RHP vortex light field of order l+2. Moreover, a pair of the LHP and RHP components of the output light field is LG-like modes sharing an identically radial index, which is electro-optically controllable. The power ratio between these two components depends on the applied electric field and the mode of input beam.     

Improvement of optical trapping effect by using the focused high-order Laguerre-Gaussian beams

We investigate the optical trapping effect of high-order Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beams acting on a dielectric sphere in Rayleigh regime. For LG beams with the azimuthal mode index l=0, it is found that under the same input power, the transverse trapping effect can be enhanced several times with increasing the radial mode index p, compared with that of the Gaussian beam; while its axial trapping effect is exactly the same as that of Gaussian beam, although the central trapping region reduces as p increases. For LG beams with l≥1, we find that the maximal transverse gradient forces increase with the increasing of p and the axial radiation forces reduces slightly, therefore an optimal choose on p and l is necessary for obtaining an optimal optical guiding. Our result is useful for analyzing the trapping efficiency of LG beams applied in micromanipulation technologies.     

Generation of thin and hollow beams by the axicon with a large open angle

We propose a method to produce diffraction-free thin and hollow beams. The method is based on Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beams incident on a large open-angle axicon. We use the vector diffraction integrals and stationary phase method to deduce a simple and analytical formula of the propagating field of the linearly polarized LG beams through an axicon. The numerical results show that the hollow beams of whose diameter is in the order of the wavelength can be obtained by using the axicon with the refractive index n = 2 and the open angle α = 25°. These diffraction-free thin and hollow beams may be very useful to accurately trap and manipulate atoms. However, when the open angle is over large, the conversion efficiency from the LG beam to the diffraction-free hollow beam will decrease obviously.     

Rotation of laser beams with zero of the orbital angular momentum

We show that among the multitude of rotating light beams whose complex amplitude can be represented as a linear superposition of the Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) modes with definite numbers there are light beams with zero orbital angular momentum (OAM) and vice versa, multi-mode LG beams that show no rotation and are lacking the radially symmetric intensity distribution can possess the non-zero OAM. Also, we give examples of the rotating light beams with zero OAM, represented as a superposition of the Bessel and new hypergeometric modes. Using an SLM, we generate a rotating Bessel beam with zero OAM for the first time.     

Partially coherent Lorentz Gaussian beam and its scintillations

We study the scintillation aspects of partially coherent Lorentz Gaussian (LG) beams via numerically integrating the average and average squared intensity expressions. Within the examined range of input and propagation medium parameters, the LG beams are generally found to offer less and less scintillations against the pure Gaussian beam, particularly when the Lorentzian feature of the beam is emphasized more. This lower scintillation property is exhibited for collimated coherent beams with different Lorentz widths and at on-axis and off-axis positions of the receiver plane. When focusing is introduced, at shorter propagation distances the ordering of the beams remains as described above, but at longer propagations distances a complete reversing of the beam order is observed. Raising the turbulence levels by increasing the structure constant inevitably causes rises in scintillations, while preserving the advantage of LG beams over the pure Gaussian beam. Partial coherence reduces scintillations as expected, at the same time nearly eliminating the scintillation differences between the beam types.     

拉盖尔-高斯模叠加而成的部分相干光的相干涡旋

对Bogatyryova等人近来提出的一种可分离位相的部分相干光的相干涡旋作了详细研究.这类新的光束由相同角向指数的拉盖尔-高斯(LG)模非相干叠加而成.研究表明，叠加LG模式的模指数，权重因子和参考点位置的选择都会影响圆刃型位错出现的位置，使得涡旋消失或出现多个相干涡旋.而且，LG模叠加而成的位相不可分离的部分相干光也存在相干涡旋. 关键词： 奇点光学 一类新的部分相干光束 相干涡旋 圆刃型位错     

Field properties and vacuum electron acceleration in a laser beam of high-order Laguerre–Gaussian mode

The electric field intensity distribution and the phase velocity distribution of high-order Laguerre–Gaussian (LGρ?) mode laser beams are analyzed. Using three-dimensional test particle simulation, the numerical results of electrons accelerated by LG00, LG40 and LG41 mode laser beams are presented. Compared with the LG00 mode (the fundamental mode) laser beam, low-energy injection electrons can be more favorably accelerated in a high-order LG mode laser beam. Contrary to anticipation, a high-order LG mode laser beam with intense axial electric field distribution is inferior to the LG00 mode in capture acceleration for electrons with high injection energy.     

Effect of Comatic Aberration on the Propagation Characteristics of Laguerre--Gaussian Beams

Seidel comatic aberration is an important cause of deformation for a Laguerre--Gaussian (LG) beam. In addition, mono-axial comatic aberration, whose phase modulation depends only on one transverse coordinate, is also an important cause of beam deformation. Deformation of an LG beam by such aberrations is analyzed through numerical simulation based on the angular spectrum method. It is also shown that for holographically generated LG beams quadratic spatial variation of grating pitch can produce seidel and mono-axial comatic aberrations. An example of an experimentally generated LG beam with mono-axial comatic aberration is reported.     

利用振幅光栅生成拉盖尔-高斯光束的实验研究

拉盖尔高斯(Laguerre-Gaussian,LG)光束由于其独特的相位结构和轨道角动量特性在微粒旋转操纵和信息处理等方面得到了越来越多的重视.对利用振幅型叉状衍射光栅产生LG光束进行了理论分析,采用计算全息图的方法制作了振幅型叉状衍射光栅,实验上获得了角量子数为±1的LG光束,并对光束变换过程中影响光束特性的主要因素进行了讨论. 关键词： 信息光学 拉盖尔高斯光束 计算全息光栅 光束轨道角动量     

利用振幅光栅生成拉盖尔、高斯光束的实验研究

拉盖尔高斯(Laguerre-Gaussian，LG)光束由于其独特的相位结构和轨道角动量特性在微粒旋转操纵和信息处理等方面得到了越来越多的重视.对利用振幅型叉状衍射光栅产生LG光束进行了理论分析，采用计算全息图的方法制作了振幅型叉状衍射光栅，实验上获得了角量子数为±1的LG光束，并对光束变换过程中影响光束特性的主要因素进行了讨论.     

A quadrant detector based laser alignment method with higher sensitivity

By setting the QD in an inclined position with an angle of 45°, it has been theoretically and experimentally demonstrated that around the center of QD, the sensitivity of the device to the displacement of the spot will increase by a factor of about 1.4, followed with a worth linearity of response when the displacement is expanded. To comprise this problem, a remedy based on the Laguerre–Gaussian (LG) beam is proposed so that a better linearity can be expected and the available measurement range of position is extended. Furthermore, we gave the formula to calculate the sensitivity enhancement factor and discussed its potential influence and possible compensation by making a displacement deliberately in vertical direction.     

Average intensity and spectral shifts of a partially coherent standard or elegant Laguerre-Gaussian beam beyond paraxial approximation

With the help of the Rayleigh-Sommerfeld diffraction integral, an analytical formula for the spectral density of a nonparaxial polychromatic partially coherent (NPPC) standard or elegant Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beam propagating through free space is derived. The evolution properties of the intensity distribution of a NPPC standard or elegant LG beam are studied numerically. It is found that the behavior of the intensity distribution of the NPPC standard or elegant LG beam is determined by the initial beam parameters (i.e., beam waist size, spatial coherence width and beam orders). Furthermore, we also study the influence of the initial beam parameters on the spectral change of a NPPC standard or elegant LG beam upon propagation in free space. It is shown that the on-axis spectral shift of a NPPC standard LG beam is almost the same with that of a NPPC elegant LG beam when the initial beam parameters of two type beams are identical. However, the difference between the off-axis spectral shift between a NPPC standard LG beam and a NPPC elegant LG beam is enhanced with the decrease of beam waist size or with the increase of spatial coherence width and beam mode orders.     

Manipulation of slow light with orbital angular momentum in cold atomic gases

We study the propagation of a weak pulse of slow light in a cloud of cold atoms controlled by two additional laser beams of larger intensity in a tripod configuration of the light-matter coupling. We consider a case where one of the control beams has an optical vortex and thus has a zero intensity at the center. The presence of the second control beams restores adiabaticity in the propagation of the probe beam. This makes it possible to exchange the optical vortex between the control and probe fields during the storage. We analyze conditions for the vortex of the control beam to be transferred efficiently to the restored probe beam.     

Investigation of the center intensity of first- and second-order Laguerre-Gaussian beams with linear and circular polarization

The vectorial Debye integral shows that tightly focused Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beams have a residual intensity at the focal point for linear polarization, for a topological charge of m=1 and 2. We measured the shapes of linearly and circularly polarized LG beams and found that a central intensity appeared at m=1 and 2 for linear and right-handed circular polarization, however, it is completely canceled for left-handed circular polarization. In general, when the orbital angular momentum of the LG beam is parallel to the spin angular momentum of the photons, zero intensity is always achieved at the focus.     

4Pi focusing of spatially modulated radially polarized vortex beams

We propose a method for generating focal beams with special intensity distributions using radially polarized vortex beams in a 4Pi configuration. A spherical dark-hollow beam and hollow beam array can be obtained by vortex beams with topological charge of m=1. A dark channel can be generated using vortex beams with topological charge of m=2. The length of the well-defined hollow beam array and the dark channel is about 30λ. These interesting beams are useful in optical trapping and manipulation.     

Three-Airy autofocusing beams

We numerically and experimentally demonstrate that a three-Airy autofocusing beam can be generated by superposing three deformed two-dimensional(2 D) Airy beams with a triangle symmetry. When the initial angle between two wings of the deformed 2 D Airy beams increases, such a three-Airy autofocusing beam exhibits that the focusing length decreases and the intensity contrast at the focal point changes. Moreover, after introducing an optical vortex phase, this three-Airy autofocusing beam displays a transverse rotation in propagation. The rotation angle is determined by the topological charge of the vortex and the initial wing angle. Our results may have some potential applications in optical manipulation.     

Generalization and propagation of spiraling Bessel beams with a helical axicon

A generalized type of spiral Bessel beam has been demonstrated by using a spatially displaced helical axicon (HA). The topological charge of the spiraling Bessel beams is determined by the order of the input Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beam and the topological charge of the HA. The obtained spiraling Bessel beams have an LG type of modulation along their propagation direction and exhibit annihilation-reconstruction properties. Theoretical analysis is presented, including that of the stability, propagation distance, topological charge, and spiraling dynamic characteristics. The mathematical and numerical results show that the propagation distance and helical revolution of the spiraling Bessel beams can be controlled through choosing appropriate radius of the HA.     

Generation and detection of linearly polarized axially symmetric beam by an amplitude computer-generated hologram

A novel beam combination scheme was proposed to generate high order linearly polarized axially symmetric beam (LPASB) by superposing two Laguerre–Gaussian (LG) beams with opposite azimuthal quantum numbers. An amplitude computer-generated hologram (CGH) was not only used to generate two LG beams but also used in the combination scheme. Amplitude CGH was also used to detect the order of the LPASB.     

非傍轴矢量拉盖尔-高斯光束的二阶矩表示

基于Porras提出的光传输的非傍轴矢量矩理论，推导出初始圆偏振的非傍轴矢量拉盖尔-高斯(LG)光束的特征参数，包括束宽、远场发散角和M²因子等的公式，并表示为级数求和形式.非傍轴矢量高斯光束公式作为特例给出.研究表明，基于二阶矩定义的束宽按双曲线规律传输，当w₀/λ→0(w₀为束宽，λ为波长)时，远场发散角θ趋于90°，大于非傍轴标量理论预示的值63.435°.非傍轴矢量LG光束的M²因子不仅与模指数p有关，而且还与w₀/λ有关.最后，对非傍轴矢量LG光束和非傍轴标量LG光束的传输作了比较，结果表明在w₀/λ较小时，矢量效应对远场发散角的影响十分显著.对θ→90°引起的问题和非傍轴矢量矩理论的适用范围，以及解决问题的可能途径作了分析和讨论. 关键词： 非傍轴矢量拉盖尔-高斯光束 圆偏振 非傍轴矢量矩理论 光束参数