Cylindrical vector beam generator using a two-element interferometer

TL;DR

This paper presents a simple, robust, and compact interferometric method to generate cylindrical vector beams by transforming vortex beams on the higher-order Poincare sphere, with potential for monolithic integration.

Contribution

A novel two-element interferometer design for efficient cylindrical vector beam generation, offering an alternative to phase-based optical elements and enabling all known CV beams.

Findings

Successfully transformed vortex beams into various CV beams

Demonstrated control over the higher-order Poincare sphere

Potential for monolithic device implementation

Abstract

We realize a robust and compact cylindrical vector beam generator which consists of a simple two-element interferometer composed of a beam displacer and a cube beamsplitter. The interferometer operates on the higher-order Poincare sphere transforming a homogeneously polarized vortex into a cylindrical vector (CV) beam. We experimentally demonstrate the transformation of a single vortex beam into all the well-known CV beams and show the operations on the higher-order Poincare sphere according to the control parameters. Our method offers an alternative to the Pancharatnam-Berry phase optical elements and has the potential to be implemented as a monolithic device.