A study of geometric phase topology using Fourier transform method

Abstract

Topological aspect of the geometric phase (GP) due to pure polarization projection is studied using the 2D Fourier transform (2D-FT) method. Projection of orthogonal polarization state results in a phase singularity in the 2D parameter space of ellipticity and orientation of polarization ellipse. Projection of its surrounding states results in an accumulation of GP in different amount that form a spiral structure. A half wave plate-quarter wave plate combination is used to generate different polarization states which are projected using a polarizer. The accumulated phase for each orientation of the wave plate is extracted from 2D-FT of the interferogram, obtained by interfering it with a reference beam in a Mach-Zehnder like interferometer.