Topological Charge Inversion of Optical Vortex with Geometric Metasurfaces

Abstract

The topological charge (TC) inversion of optical vortex is demonstrated along the beam propagation direction by using plasmonic geometric metasurfaces with the initial wave fronts designed from the principle of caustic surface. The detailed TC inversion evolution process is observed together with the transmutation point where the vortex vanishes. The orbital angular momentum (OAM) mode distributions during the TC inversion process are studied to show the dynamic redistributions of OAM mode density between the central area and the surrounding area of the beam with the total OAM conserved. Furthermore, the TC inversion of self-accelerating vortex beam along the parabolic trajectory is presented. The realization of controlling TC inversion of optical vortex along arbitrary beam trajectory paves the way for many applications with more complex functionalities in optical trapping and manipulation, optical sensing, quantum information and computation, and data communication.

Department(s)

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Research Center/Lab(s)

Intelligent Systems Center

Comments

The authors acknowledge support from the Office of Naval Research under Grant No. N00014-16-1-2408 and the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. ECCS-1653032 and DMR-1552871.

Keywords and Phrases

Geometric Phase; Metasurfaces; Orbital Angular Momentum; Plasmonic Antennas; Topological Charge Inversion

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

2195-1071

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Apr 2019

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