Switchable vector vortex beam generation using an optical fiber

Abstract

We present our experimental results on directly transforming a circular-polarized Gaussian beam into linear-polarized vector vortex beams using a two-mode fiber and demonstrate switching between the different 0th-order vector vortex modes excited and guided in the fiber. Depending on the handiness of circular-polarization of the input Gaussian light beam, its launch angle with respect to the fiber axis and by changing them appropriately it is possible to excite and switch between the different vector vortex modes and its coherent linear superposition supported by the two-mode fiber. The output optical beams due to the selectively excited vector modes in the fiber are characterized by using a rotating analyzer and a two-beam interferometer setup to study the polarization and the phase behavior of the vector vortex beam. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.