Complex light fields enter a new dimension: holographic modulation of polarization in addition to amplitude and phase

摘要

We present a method to tailor not only amplitude and phase of a complex light field, but also the transverse states of polarization. Starting from the implementation of spatially inhomogeneous distributions of polarization, so called Poincare beams, we realized a holographic optical technique that allows arbitrarily modulating the states of polarization by a single phase-only spatial light modulator (SLM). Moreover, the effective amplitude modulation of higher order beams performed by a phase-only SLM is shown. We will demonstrate the capabilities of our method ranging from the modulation of higher order Gaussian modes including desired polarization characteristics to the generation of polarization singularities at arbitrary points in the transverse plane of Poincare beams.