Polarization transitions in the focus of radial-variant vector circular Airy beams

Abstract

We propose a new kind of light beam with both autofocusing ability and radial-variant distribution of polarization states, named radial-variant vector circular Airy beam (RVCAB). The polarization transitions in the focus of RVCABs are simulated based on vectorial angular spectrum formalism and theoretically explained by Stokes parameters. Our results reveal the dependence of the pure polarization state near the focus on the distribution of polarization states in the initial plane, which may lead to manipulation of the polarization state near the focus via controlling the distribution of polarization states in the initial plane.