Binary multi-order diffraction optical elements with variable fill factor for the formation and detection of optical...

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Information Optics
• Diffractive Optics

Background:

• Optical vortices are crucial for advanced optical applications.
• Existing methods for synthesizing diffractive optical elements (DOEs) often lack flexibility.
• Complex amplitude-phase distributions are typically required for precise control.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a method for calculating binary DOEs for arbitrary order optical vortex formation and detection.
• To investigate the use of binary coding with a variable fill factor for simplified DOE synthesis.
• To enhance the flexibility and versatility of DOE design for optical vortex manipulation.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of binary DOEs using a combination of carrier spatial frequencies and variable fill factor binary coding.
• Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations to study the effects of variable level coding.
• Utilizing carrier spatial frequencies for flexible control over diffraction orders and energy distribution.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated the ability to form optical vortices of arbitrary order and control their energy distribution.
• Showcased that variable level binary coding simplifies the required input field distributions.
• Confirmed that coding level variation allows modification of observed diffraction orders.
• Established that vortex properties are determined by carrier spatial frequencies and topological charges.

Conclusions:

• The proposed method offers a flexible and versatile approach to binary DOE design for optical vortices.
• Variable level binary coding effectively simplifies DOE synthesis without compromising control.
• The findings have potential applications in optical communications and information processing.