Persistence and Lifelong Fidelity of Phase Singularities in Optical Random Waves

Phase singularities are locations where light is twisted like a corkscrew, with positive or negative topological charge depending on the twisting direction. Among the multitude of singularities arising in random wave fields, some can be found at the same location, but only when they exhibit opposite topological charge, which results in their...

The dating game at dimension zero: creation and annihilation of phase singularities in optical random waves

Phase singularities can be created and annihilated, but always in pairs. With optical near-field measurements, we track singularities in random waves as a function of wavelength, and discover correlations between creation and annihilation events.

Shaping the focal field of radially/azimuthally polarized phase vortex with Zernike polynomials

The focal field properties of radially/azimuthally polarized Zernike polynomials are studied. A method to design the pupil field in order to shape the focal field of radially or azimuthally polarized phase vortex is introduced. With this method, we are able to obtain a pupil field to achieve a longitudinally polarized hollow spot with a depth of...

The use of orbital angular momentum of light beams for optical data storage

We present a method to optically store multiple information in one location by having angular momentum imparted to the scanning beam by optical phase objects that make up the information areas on a surface. We show that the light beam thus perturbed carries an optical vortex, the rotation of which can be detected in the near-field focal region...