Tunable optical cage array generated by Dammann vector beam

Abstract

Optical cages attract considerable attentions recently owing to their potential applications in optical trapping, optical imaging and optical cloaking. However, the generation of tunable optical cage arrays in the transverse plane comes to a great challenge, which restricts the effectiveness of the above applications. In this work, we propose a full polarization-controlled method that optical cage arrays with tunable number and positions in the x-y plane can be generated by a so-called Dammann vector beam (DVB), both under the conditions of high- and low-NA focusing system. By adjusting the polarization state of the DVB with the phase of Dammann grating, the number and positions of optical cages can be adjusted flexibly. This work reveals the relationship between the complex polarization state of an incident vector beam and the output optical cage array in the focal region, and may find valuable applications in optical imaging, optical trapping, etc.