Laser modes with helical wave fronts

Abstract

We report the operation of an argon-ion laser in pure (single-frequency) ``doughnut'' modes of order m=1, 2, and 3. The phase discontinuity at the center of these modes leads to striking two-beam interference patterns that clearly demonstrate the existence of a helical cophasal surface (wave front). The doughnut mode with m=1 (usually called ${\mathrm{TEM}}_{01}^{\mathrm{*}}$) displays a forking interference fringe pattern characteristic of a pure single helix. The m=2 mode shows a pattern with four extra prongs, establishing that the cophasal surface is a two-start or double helix; the m=3 mode is a triple helix with a six-extra-pronged pattern. Each pure doughnut mode is shown to have two possible states corresponding to output wave fronts of opposite helicity.