Handedness control in a 2-μm optical vortex parametric oscillator

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Quantum Optics

Background:

• Optical vortices are beams with helical wavefronts.
• Controlling the handedness (chirality) of optical vortices is crucial for applications in optical trapping, microscopy, and quantum information.
• Vortex-pumped optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) are powerful sources of light with vortex properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate the first handedness control of optical vortex output from a vortex-pumped OPO.
• To investigate the relationship between pump vortex handedness and output vortex handedness.
• To explore the control of fractional vortex handedness.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing a vortex-pumped optical parametric oscillator.
• Employing a pump vortex beam with controlled handedness.
• Characterizing the output optical vortex properties, including handedness and topological charge.

Main Results:

• The handedness of the generated optical vortex was identical to that of the pump vortex beam.
• Successfully achieved over 2 mJ of 2-μm optical vortex with a topological charge of ±1.
• Demonstrated selective control over the handedness of fractional vortices with half-integer topological charges.

Conclusions:

• Handedness control of optical vortices from vortex-pumped OPOs is feasible and directly linked to pump beam handedness.
• This method provides a robust way to generate high-energy optical vortices with desired chirality.
• The selective control of fractional vortex handedness opens new possibilities for advanced optical beam shaping.