Analytical expressions are provided for describing the overall free-space evolution of the polarization structure of paraxial vortex beams whose electric-field vector at some transverse plane exhibits a radially polarized behaviour. At each transverse plane, the polarization distribution across the beam profile is characterized by means the percentage of the irradiance associated with the radial or azimuthal components. The propagation laws for these percentages are also shown. As an illustrative example, a radially polarized partially coherent vortex beam is analized.

Date Published: 18 November 2013
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 8785, 8th Iberoamerican Optics Meeting and 11th Latin American Meeting on Optics, Lasers, and Applications, 8785AB (18 November 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2021697

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8785:
8th Iberoamerican Optics Meeting and 11th Latin American Meeting on Optics, Lasers, and Applications
Manuel Filipe P. C. Martins Costa, Editor(s)