Three-dimensional modulations on the states of polarization of light fields

Light fields with spatially structured states of polarization（SoPs） are gathering increasing attention because of their potential applications from optical imaging and micromanipulation to classical and quantum communications. Meanwhile,the concepts within structured light fields have been extended and applied to acoustic, electron, and matter waves. In this article, we review recent developments of the SoP modulation of light fields, especially focusing on three-dimensional（3 D） modulations on the SoPs of light fields. The recent progress and novel implementations based on 3 D spin-dependent separation are discussed. Following the discussions to this physical phenomenon, we then describe recent developments on the vector fields with 3 D structured SoP and intensity distributions, namely, 3 D vector fields. The discussed phenomena inspire us to explore other structured light fields for the expansion of applications in biomedical, information science,quantum optics, and so on.

Creation of topological vortices using Pancharatnam-Berry phase liquid crystal holographic plates

Recently,physical fields with topological configurations are evoking increasing attention due to their fascinating structures both in fundamental researches and practical applications.Therein,topological light fields,because of their unique opportunity of combining experimental and analytical studies,are attracting more interest.Here,based on the Pancharatnam-Berry(PB)phase,we report the creation of Hopf linked and Trefoil knotted optical vortices by using phaseonly encoded liquid crystal(LC)holographic plates.Utilizing scanning measurement and the digital holographic interference method,we accurately locate the vortex singularities and map these topological nodal lines in three-dimensions.Compared with the common methods realized by the spatial light modulator(SLM),the phase-only LC plate is more efficient.Meanwhile,the smaller pixel size of the LC element reduces the imperfection induced by optical misalignment and pixellation.Moreover,we analyze the influence of the incident beam size on the topological configuration.

Dynamically measuring the holo-information of light fields in three-dimensional space using a periodic polarization-structured light

Spatially structured light field has attracted great attention due to its novel properties and application potential in numerous fields.Among them,the most striking one is the polarization-structured light,known as the vector beam.Here,using a periodic polarization-structured light,we propose a method to dynamically measure the holo-information of light fields,including the amplitude,phase,and polarization distributions,in three-dimensional(3D)space.The measurement system is composed of a Mach-Zender interferometer involving a liquid crystal polarized grating in the reference arm,which is simple,stable,and easy to operate.Featuring the single-shot measurement,this method supports observing the dynamic variation of object light fields.The accuracy,3D polarimetry,and dynamic observation of this method are validated by measuring a calibrated quarter-wave plate,a vector vortex beam,a Poincarébeam,and a stressed polymethyl methacrylate sample.

Modulation of orbital angular momentum on the propagation dynamics of light fields

Optical vortices carrying orbital angular momentum(OAM)have attracted extensive attention in recent decades because of their interesting applications in optical trapping,optical machining,optical communication,quantum information,and optical microscopy.Intriguing effects induced by OAMs,such as angular momentum conversion,spin Hall effect of light(SHEL),and spin– orbital interaction,have also gained increasing interest.In this article,we provide an overview of the modulations of OAMs on the propagation dynamics of scalar and vector fields in free space.First,we introduce the evolution of canonical and noncanonical optical vortices and analyze the modulations by means of local spatial frequency.Second,we review the Pancharatnam–Berry(PB)phases arising from spin–orbital interaction and reveal the control of beam evolution referring to novel behavior such as spindependent splitting and polarization singularity conversion.Finally,we discuss the propagation and focusing properties of azimuthally broken vector vortex beams.

Visible frequency broadband dielectric metahologram by random Fourier phase-only encoding

In recent years,metasurfaces that enable the flexible wavefront modulation at sub-wavelength scale have been widely used into holographic display,due to its prominent advantages in polarization degrees of freedom,viewing angle,and achromaticity in comparison with traditional holographic devices.In holography,the computational complexity of hologram,imaging sharpness,energy utilization,reproduction rate,and system indirection are all determined by the encoding method.Here,we propose a visible frequency broadband dielectric metahologram based on the random Fourier phase-only encoding method.Using this simple and convenient method,we design and fabricate a transmission-type geometric phase all-dielectric metahologram,which can realize holographic display with high quality in the visible frequency range.This method encodes the amplitude information into the phase function only once,eliminating the cumbersome iterations,which greatly simplifies the calculation process,and may facilitate the preparation of large area nanoprint-holograms.

Metasurface for oscillatory spin splitting along the optical path

Spin splitting of light originates from the interplay between the polarization and spatial degrees of freedom as a fundamental constituent of the emerging spin photonics,providing a prominent pathway for manipulating photon spin and developing exceptional photonic devices.However,previously relevant devices were mainly designed for routing monotonous spin splitting of light.Here,we realize an oscillatory spin splitting of light via metasurface with two channel Pancharatnam–Berry phases.For the incidence of a linearly polarized light,the concomitant phases arising from opposite spin states transition within pathways of the metasurface induce lateral spin splitting of light with alternately changed transport direction during beam guiding.We demonstrate the invariance of this phenomenon with an analogous gauge transformation.This work provides a new insight on steering the photon spin and is expected to explore a novel guiding mechanism of relativistic spinning particles,as well as applications of optical trapping and chirality sorting.