Robust Demultiplexing of Distinct Orbital Angular Momentum Infrared Vortex Beams Into Different Spatial Geometry Over a Broad Spectral Range

Abstract

Multi-channel structured light with orbital angular momentum (OAM) can be applied in different applications. For example, OAM modulation and OAM multiplexing in fiber optics communications, high-dimensional quantum cryptography-based OAM states for transmitting secure information across free-space, and independent data streams through OAM beams multiplexed free-space optical links. Using a simple and efficient system consisting of a spiral phase element (SPE) and a multi-channel vortex filter (MVF), we have converted input Gaussian beams into multi-channel OAM-based vortex beams for infrared wavelengths. An SPE has been designed, which generates optical vortices with wavelength-dependent topological charge (including fractional values). The resulting complex fields are optically relayed on a binary MVF designed by modulo- $2\pi $ phase addition of multiple fork gratings with topological charges 1, 2, and 3 and azimuthal orientations. In this way, the MVF generates beams with different OAM states for different carrier waves with different angles and maps them at desired locations in the detector plane. In this study, both $3\times 3$ , as well as a hexagonal configuration, were used. Furthermore, the experimentally obtained OAM spectrum qualitatively agrees with the results of numerical simulations, thus verifying our approach. The presented approach opens a new pathway for developing an efficient multi-channel OAM beams generator designed for a specific wavelength and illuminated by an input beam of different wavelengths over a broad spectral range.

Keywords

• Laser tuning
• optics
• optical vortices
• optical filters