https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202430911008
Optical aberrations and vector beams as a tool for hollow structured light generation
1 Technical University of Liberec, 46117 Liberec, Czech Republic
2 Institute of Plasma Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 182 00 Prague 8, Czech Republic
3 CERN – European Organization for Nuclear Research, 1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland
* Corresponding author: miroslav.sulc@tul.cz
Published online: 31 October 2024
A method for the generation of structured laser beams (SLB) and hollow structured laser beams (HSLB) whose transverse profiles are invariant and can propagate to infinity is described. SLBs are formed after passing through an optical system that generates a special wavefront as a combination of rotationally symmetric optical aberrations. Transverse profile consists of concentric circles with a very bright central core and a bounding outer-ring. The divergence of the central core 0.01 mrad has been experimentally confirmed. When the system was illuminated with a special vector beam, a hollow SLB (HSLB) beam was generated. Its central part is very narrow and completely dark. Unlike conventional hollow beams, where the electric field is zero in the dark areas, an electromagnetic field with the zero Poynting vector is present in this part of the beam. By varying the illumination parameters of the vector beam, it is possible to obtain situations where there is a longitudinal component of the electric field or/and magnetic field in the central core. The simulation results are in good agreement with the SLB profile measurements using a polarization camera.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2024
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
