Depolarization of Vector Light Beams on Propagation in Free Space

Nonparaxial propagation of the vector vortex light beams in free space was investigated theoretically. Propagation-induced polarization changes in vector light beams with different spatial intensity distributions were analyzed. It is shown that the hybrid vector Bessel modes with polarization-OAM (o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Photonics 2022-03, Vol.9 (3), p.162
Main Author: Petrov, Nikolai
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Angular momentum
Approximation
degree of polarization
Depolarization
Electric fields
Electromagnetism
Exact solutions
Helmholtz equations
Induced polarization
Light
Light beams
Luminous intensity
Optics
Polarization
Propagation
purity parameter
vector Bessel modes
vortex light
Vortices
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Summary:Nonparaxial propagation of the vector vortex light beams in free space was investigated theoretically. Propagation-induced polarization changes in vector light beams with different spatial intensity distributions were analyzed. It is shown that the hybrid vector Bessel modes with polarization-OAM (orbital angular momentum) entanglement are the exact solutions of the vector Helmholtz equation. Decomposition of arbitrary vector beams in the initial plane z = 0 into these polarization-invariant beams with phase and polarization singularities was used to analyze the evolution of the polarization of light within the framework of the 2 × 2 coherency matrix formalism. It is shown that the 2D degree of polarization decreases with distance if the incident vector beam is not the modal solution. The close relationship of the degree of polarization with the quantum-mechanical purity parameter is emphasized.
ISSN:2304-6732
2304-6732
DOI:10.3390/photonics9030162