Vector beam generation from vertical cavity surface emitting lasers.

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Laser Physics
• Optical Communications

Background:

• Vector beams offer unique polarization properties crucial for advanced optical applications.
• Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) are compact and efficient laser sources with growing potential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate the generation of radially and azimuthally polarized beams from a standard VCSEL.
• To explore the capability of VCSELs in producing vector Bessel-Gaussian beams.
• To highlight the suitability of VCSELs for future optical communication systems.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a commercially available VCSEL in an external cavity configuration.
• Employed a birefringent rutile lens with its c-axis aligned to the cavity's optical axis for polarization selection.
• Fabricated a VCSEL to achieve fixed linear polarization for generating vector Bessel-Gaussian beams.

Main Results:

• Successfully generated radially and azimuthally polarized beams in a single transverse mode from a VCSEL.
• Produced a vector Bessel-Gaussian beam from a linearly polarized free-running VCSEL.
• Confirmed the potential of VCSELs for generating diverse vector beam types.

Conclusions:

• VCSELs are capable of generating various vector beams, including radially and azimuthally polarized light.
• These vector beams are essential for enabling space-division multiplexing in future optical communication networks.
• The demonstrated VCSEL-based vector beam generation offers a promising pathway for next-generation optical technologies.