Generation of Polarization-Sensitive Modulated Optical Vortices with All-Dielectric Metasurfaces

Abstract

Optical vortices (OVs) created from helical modes of light have extensive applications in optical manipulation, imaging, and optical communications. Moreover, modulated optical vortices (MOVs) with modified wavefronts could provide new opportunities for fractionating particles and actuating microelectromechanical systems. Traditional devices for generating MOVs include spatial light modulators, spiral phase plates, and so on. However, such bulky devices are difficult to be applied to high-level integrated optical systems. Besides, other MOV generators are typically static and polarization-insensitive. Here, we proposed an all-dielectric metasurface to generate polarization-sensitive MOVs. The intensity patterns of the OVs can be modulated by adding a tangential modulation factor in the phase profile. Independent manipulation of two orthogonal polarizations was adopted via tailoring the geometric parameters of silicon (Si) pillars. We experimentally demonstrated that the metasurface could generate a doughnut and an actinomorphic vortex beams for different polarization inputs. In addition, the intensity pattern of the MOVs can be dynamically tuned by adjusting the polarization angle. This work can benefit optical manipulation and can be further extended to visible and near-infrared bands.