Abstract

Structured light concerns the control of light in its spatial degrees of freedom (amplitude, phase, and polarization), and has proven instrumental in many applications. The creation of structured light usually involves the conversion of a Gaussian mode to a desired structure in a single step, while the detection is often the reverse process, both fundamentally lossy or imperfect. Here we show how to ideally reshape structured light in a lossless manner in a simple two-step process using conformal mapping. We outline the core theoretical arguments, and experimentally demonstrate reshaping of arbitrary structured light patterns with correlations in excess of 90%. Further, we highlight when the technique is applicable and when not, and how best to implement it. This work will be a useful addition to the structured light toolkit, and particularly relevant to those wishing to use the spatial modes of light as a basis in classical and quantum communication.

© 2020 Optical Society of America

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