Probing the limits of vortex mode generation and detection with spatial light modulators

TL;DR

This paper investigates the capabilities and limitations of spatial light modulators in generating and detecting high-order vortex beams with orbital angular momentum, providing theoretical and experimental insights to optimize their performance.

Contribution

It quantifies the impact of pixelation on vortex mode quality and demonstrates the generation and detection of the highest order vortex mode (ℓ=600) to date using SLMs.

Findings

Pixelation affects vortex mode quality

Optimized holograms improve performance

Achieved highest vortex order (ℓ=600) with SLMs

Abstract

Spatial light modulators (SLMs) are popular tools for generating structured light fields and have fostered numerous applications in optics and photonics. Here, we explore the limits of what fields these devices are capable of generating and detecting in the context of so-called vortex beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM). Our main contributions are to quantify (theoretically and experimentally) how the pixelation of the SLM screen affects the quality of the generated vortex mode and to offer useful heuristics on how to optimise the performance of the displayed digital hologram. In so doing, we successfully generate and detect a very high order optical vortex mode with topological charge $\ell = 600$, the highest achieved to date using SLMs. Since the OAM degree of freedom is frequently touted as offering a potentially unbounded state space, we hope that this work will inspire researchers to make more use of higher order vortex modes.