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Updated: Nov 24, 2025

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Published on: October 11, 2016
Characteristics of fork-shaped fringes formed by off-axis interference of two vortex beams
Abstract:
Fork-shaped fringes are formed for off-axis interference between two oblique-incident vortex beams. New formulas considering various parameters [such as the angles between two vortex beams and their topological charges (TCs)] are established to describe all kinds of fork-shaped fringes. An improved Mach-Zehnder interferometer is employed to investigate these interference fringes. Experimental measurements are consistent with numerical simulations by using our formulas. Our results broaden the understanding of the off-axis interference between two vortex beams, and can be applied to detect the TCs' sign and value of an unknown vortex beam, especially large-value TCs.
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