Optical vector beams arise from point to point spatial variations of the electric component of an electromagnetic field over the transverse plane. In this work, we present a novel experimental technique to generate arbitrary vec- tor beams, and provide sufficient evidence to validate their state of polarization. This technique takes advantage of the capability of a Spatial Light Modulator to simultaneously generate two components of an electromagnetic field by halving the screen of the device and subsequently recombining them in a Sagnac interferometer. Our experimental results show the versatility and robustness of this technique for the generation of vector beams.

Date Published: 25 August 2017
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 10347, Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation XIV, 103470O (25 August 2017); doi: 10.1117/12.2272619

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 10347:
Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation XIV
Kishan Dholakia; Gabriel C. Spalding, Editor(s)