THz Multi-Mode Q-Plate with a Fixed Rate of Change of the Optical Axis Using Form Birefringence

Micromachines (Basel). 2022 May 20;13(5):796. doi: 10.3390/mi13050796.

Abstract

We report the design, fabrication and experimental validation of a THz all-dielectric multi-mode q-plate having a fixed rate of change of the optical axis. The device consists of space-variant birefringent slabs manufactured by 3D printing using melt-extruded Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS). The desired form birefringence is analytically evaluated and experimentally measured by the THz time domain spectroscopy technique. The manufactured q-plate design is characterized using a polarization-sensitive imaging setup. The full electric field spatial maps are acquired from the beam propagating through the q-plate. The device enables the realization of both radial and azimuthal vector beams at discrete frequency intervals by controlling the space-dependent orientation of the ordinary and extraordinary axes in the transverse plane with a multi-mode sequence.

Keywords: 3D printing; birefringence; hyperspectral imaging; q-plate; terahertz devices; vector beams.

Grants and funding

This work has been partially supported by the INFN project “TERA”.