Abstract
A general expression for the electric field of a cylindrically polarized vector beam propagating in free space is derived on the basis of the exact fully vectorial solution of Maxwell equations in transverse Fourier space, which indicates that a cylindrical polarization can be regarded as the combination of radial and azimuthal polarizations, and the electric field retains cylindrical symmetry under the propagation. The simulation results denote that the longitudinal electric field depends on the ratio of the waist width to wavelength and the angle between the electrical vector and the radial direction; in particular, when this angle is 24.5°, a flattop intensity distribution is obtained at the plane z = 0.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Gori F. Polarization basis for vortex beams. Journal of the Optical Society of America A, 2001, 18(7): 1612–1617
Salamin Y I, Keitel C H. Electron acceleration by a tightly focused laser beam. Physical Review Letters, 2002, 88(9): 095005
Zhan Q W. Trapping metallic Rayleigh particles with radial polarization. Optics Express, 2004, 12(15): 3377–3382
Youngworth K S, Brown T G. Inhomogeneous polarization in scanning optical microscopy. Proceedings of SPIE, 2000, 3919: 75–85
Niziev V G, Nesterov A V. Influence of beam polarization on laser cutting efficiency. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 1999, 32(13): 1455–1461
Oron R, Blit S, Davidson N, Friesem A A, Bomzon Z, Hasman E. The formation of laser beams with pure azimuthal or radial polarization. Applied Physics Letters, 2000, 77(21): 3322–3324
Niziev V G, Chang R S, Nesterov A V. Generation of inhomogeneously polarized laser beams by use of a Sagnac interferometer. Applied Optics, 2006, 45(33): 8393–8399
Zhan QW, Leger J R. Focus shaping using cylindrical vector beams. Optics Express, 2002, 10(7): 324–331
Borghi R, Scantarsiero M. Nonparaxial propagation of spirally polarized optical beams. Journal of the Optical Society of America A, 2004, 21(10): 2029–2037
Ciattoni A, Crosignani B, Di Porto P. Vectorial free-space optical propagation: a simple approach for generating all-order nonparaxial corrections. Optics Communications, 2000, 177(1–6): 9–13
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jia, X., Li, B., Wang, Y. et al. Propagation properties of a cylindrically polarized vector beam. Front. Optoelectron. China 2, 414–418 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12200-009-0058-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12200-009-0058-0