Paraxial propagation in amorphous optical media with screw dislocation

TL;DR

This paper investigates how screw dislocations in amorphous optical media affect paraxial beam propagation, altering vortex strength, inducing anisotropy, and demonstrating the optical Hall effect, with implications for material characterization.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework for understanding beam dynamics in dislocated amorphous media, revealing effects on angular momentum and polarization due to dislocations.

Findings

Screw dislocation changes vortex strength and enables vortex annihilation or generation.

Dislocation induces biaxial anisotropy affecting spin angular momentum and polarization precession.

Optical Hall effect is demonstrated in the dislocated medium.

Abstract

We study paraxial beam propagation parallel to the screw axis of a dislocated amorphous medium that is optically weakly inhomogeneous and isotropic. The effect of the screw dislocation on the beam's orbital angular momentum is shown to change the optical vortex strength, rendering vortex annihilation or generation possible. Furthermore, the dislocation is shown to induce a weak \textit{biaxial} anisotropy in the medium due to the elasto-optic effect, which changes the beam's spin angular momentum as well as causing precession of the polarization. We derive the equations of motion of the beam and demonstrate the optical Hall effect in the dislocated medium. Its application with regard to determining the Burgers vector as well as the elasto-optic coefficients of the medium is explained.