Geometric phase shaping of terahertz vortex beams

Opt Lett. 2017 Jan 1;42(1):41-44. doi: 10.1364/OL.42.000041.

Abstract

We propose a topological beam-shaping strategy of terahertz (THz) beams using geometric phase elements made of space-variant birefringent slabs. Quasi-monochromatic THz vortex beams are produced and characterized both in amplitude and phase from the reconstructed real-time two-dimensional imaging of the electric field. Nonseparable superpositions of such vortex beams are also obtained and characterized by two-dimensional polarimetric analysis. These results emphasize the versatility of the spin-orbit electromagnetic toolbox to prepare on-demand structured light endowed with polarization-controlled orbital angular momentum content in the THz domain, which should find many uses in future THz technologies.