Beams with propagation-invariant transverse polarization pattern

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new class of nonuniformly totally polarized beams that maintain their transverse polarization pattern during propagation, useful for polarimetric measurements and including full-Poincaré beams.

Contribution

It presents a method to generate propagation-invariant polarization beams, expanding the range of applications in polarimetry and beam shaping.

Findings

Beams preserve their polarization pattern during paraxial propagation.

The class includes full-Poincaré beams with all polarization states.

Invariance can be achieved in the far field with less restrictive conditions.

Abstract

A wide class of nonuniformly totally polarized beams is introduced that preserve their transverse polarization pattern during paraxial propagation. They are obtained as suitable combinations of Gaussian modes and find applications in polarimetric techniques that use a single input beam for the determination of the Mueller matrix of a homogeneous sample. The class also includes beams that present all possible polarization states across their transverse section (Full-Poincar\`e beams). An example of such beams and its use in polarimetry is discussed in detail. The requirement of invariance of the polarization pattern can be limited to the propagation in the far field, in which case less restrictive conditions are found and a wider class of beams is obtained.