Abstract

We demonstrated detection of birefringence singularity on the space-variant retarder with an inhomogeneous birefringence distribution by supercontinuum vector beam. The birefringence measurement by supercontinuum vector beam analysis provides kinematics of a singularity point on the space-variant retarder. We conducted numerical calculations and experiments for proof of principle. The calculated results were characterized by relative positions with $({{{x}_0},{{{y}}_0}})$ between the singularity point and the vector beam. In the experiments, we measured the retardance and the azimuthal angle from intensity profile on a single-shot image captured at wavelengths of $\lambda = 450$, 550, and 650 nm. The retardances at $\lambda = 450\;{\rm nm}$ and 550 nm were changed from $\Delta = 112^\circ$ to 131° and from $\Delta = 120^\circ$ to 152° when the ${x_0}$ displacement of the space-variant retarder moved from 0 to 350 µm. The measured retardance corresponded with the calculated results in the function of the position of birefringence singularity.

© 2020 Optical Society of America

Single-shot multispectral birefringence mapping by supercontinuum vector beams

Misaki Shoji, Toshitaka Wakayama, Hirokazu Ishida, Hiroyuki Kowa, Kazuyuki Sakaue, Taisuke Miura, and Takeshi Higashiguchi
Appl. Opt. 59(23) 7131-7138 (2020)

Megahertz detection of spectroscopic polarization by a time-encoded supercontinuum vector beam

Yukihiro Inoue, Juri Ogawa, Hiroki Morita, Kazuyuki Sakaue, Toshitaka Wakayama, and Takeshi Higashiguchi
Appl. Opt. 63(2) 423-428 (2024)

Non-interferometric technique to realize vector beams embedded with polarization singularities

Praveen Kumar, Sushanta Kumar Pal, Naveen K. Nishchal, and P. Senthilkumaran
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 37(6) 1043-1052 (2020)

Polarization singularities in superposition of vector beams

Sunil Vyas, Yuichi Kozawa, and Shunichi Sato
Opt. Express 21(7) 8972-8986 (2013)

Managing focal fields of vector beams with multiple polarization singularities

Lei Han, Sheng Liu, Peng Li, Yi Zhang, Huachao Cheng, Xuetao Gan, and Jianlin Zhao
Appl. Opt. 55(32) 9049-9053 (2016)