Dr. Andrea Aiello

Observation of concentrating paraxial beams

Andrea Aiello, Martin Paúr, Bohumil Stoklasa, Zdeněk Hradil, Jaroslav Řeháček, Luis L Sánchez-Soto

We report the first, to the best of our knowledge, observation of concentrating paraxialbeams of light in a linear nondispersive medium. We have generated this intriguing class of lightbeams, recently predicted by one of us, in both one- and two-dimensional configurations. As wedemonstrate in our experiments, these concentrating beams display unconventional features, suchas the ability to strongly focus in the focal spot of a thin lens like a plane wave, while keepingtheir total energy finite.

Renormalized Mutual Information for Artificial Scientific Discovery

Leopoldo Sarra, Andrea Aiello, Florian Marquardt

We derive a well-defined renormalized version of mutual information that allows to estimate the dependence between continuous random variables in the important case when one is deterministically dependent on the other. This is the situation relevant for feature extraction, where the goal is to produce a low-dimensional effective description of a high-dimensional system. Our approach enables the discovery of collective variables in physical systems, thus adding to the toolbox of artificial scientific discovery, while also aiding the analysis of information flow in artificial neural networks.

Field theory of monochromatic optical beams II. Classical and quantum paraxial fields

Andrea Aiello

This work is the second part of an investigation aiming at the study of optical wave equations from a field-theoretic point of view. Here, we study classical and quantum aspects of scalar fields satisfying the paraxial wave equation. First, we determine conservation laws for energy, linear and angular momentum of paraxial fields in a classical context. Then, we proceed with the quantization of the field. Finally, we compare our result with the traditional ones.

Field theory of monochromatic optical beams I. classical fields

Andrea Aiello

We study monochromatic, scalar solutions of the Helmholtz and paraxial wave equations from a field-theoretic point of view. We introduce appropriate time-independent Lagrangian densities for which the Euler-Lagrange equations reproduces either Helmholtz and paraxial wave equations with the $z$-coordinate, associated with the main direction of propagation of the fields, playing the same role of time in standard Lagrangian theory. For both Helmholtz and paraxial scalar fields, we calculate the canonical energy-momentum tensor and determine the continuity equations relating ``energy'' and ``momentum'' of the fields. Eventually, the reduction of the Helmholtz wave equation to a useful first-order Dirac form, is presented. This work sheds some light on the intriguing and not so acknowledged connections between angular spectrum representation of optical wavefields, cosmological models and physics of black holes.

Perturbation theory of optical resonances of deformed dielectric spheres

Andrea Aiello, Jack G. E. Harris, Florian Marquardt

We analyze the optical resonances of a dielectric sphere whose surface has been slightly deformed in an arbitrary way. Setting up a perturbation series up to second order, we derive both the frequency shifts and modified linewidths. Our theory is applicable, for example, to freely levitated liquid drops or solid spheres, which are deformed by thermal surface vibrations, centrifugal forces or arbitrary surface waves. A dielectric sphere is effectively an open system whose description requires the introduction of non-Hermitian operators characterized by complex eigenvalues and not normalizable eigenfunctions. We avoid these difficulties using the Kapur-Peierls formalism which enables us to extend the popular Rayleigh-Schrödinger perturbation theory to the case of electromagnetic Debye's potentials describing the light fields inside and outside the near-spherical dielectric object. We find analytical formulas, valid within certain limits, for the deformation-induced first- and second-order corrections to the central frequency and bandwidth of a resonance. As an application of our method, we compare our results with preexisting ones finding full agreement.

Classically Entangled Light

Andrew Forbes, Andrea Aiello, Bienvenu Ndagano

The concept of entanglement is so synonymous with quantum mechanics that the prefix “quantum” is often deemed unnecessary; there is after all only quantum entanglement. But the hallmark of entangled quantum states is nonseparability, a property that is not unique to the quantum world. On the contrary, nonseparability appears in many physical systems, and pertinently, in classical vector states of light: classical entanglement? Here we outline the concept of classical entanglement, highlight where it may be found, how to control and exploit it, and discuss the similarities and differences between quantum and classical entangled systems. Intriguingly, we show that quantum tools may be applied to classical systems, and likewise that classical light may be used in quantum processes. While we mostly use vectorial structured light throughout the text as our example of choice, we make it clear that the concepts outlined here may be extended beyond this with little effort, which we showcase with a few selected case studies.

Cavity optomechanics in a levitated helium drop

L. Childress, M. P. Schmidt, A. D. Kashkanova, C. D. Brown, G. I. Harris, Andrea Aiello, Florian Marquardt, J. G. E. Harris

We describe a proposal for a type of optomechanical system based on a drop of liquid helium that ismagnetically levitated in vacuum. In the proposed device, the drop would serve three roles: its optical whispering-gallery modes would provide the optical cavity, its surface vibrations would constitute the mechanical element, and evaporation of He atoms from its surface would provide continuous refrigeration. We analyze the feasibility of such a system in light of previous experimental demonstrations of its essential components: magnetic levitation of mm-scale and cm-scale drops of liquid He, evaporative cooling of He droplets in vacuum, and coupling to high-quality optical whispering-gallery modes in a wide range of liquids. We find that the combination of these features could result in a device that approaches the single-photon strong-coupling regime, due to the high optical quality factors attainable at low temperatures. Moreover, the system offers a unique opportunity to use optical techniques to study the motion of a superfluid that is freely levitating in vacuum (in the case of He-4). Alternatively, for a normal fluid drop of He-3, we propose to exploit the coupling between the drop's rotations and vibrations to perform quantum nondemolition measurements of angular momentum.

Unraveling beam self-healing

Andrea Aiello, Girish S. Agarwal, Martin Paur, Bohumil Stoklasa, Zdenek Hradil, Jaroslav Rehacek, Pablo de la Hoz, Gerd Leuchs, Luis L. Sanchez-Soto

We show that, contrary to popular belief, diffraction-free beams not only may reconstruct themselves after hitting an opaque obstacle but also, for example, Gaussian beams. We unravel the mathematics and the physics underlying the self-reconstruction mechanism and we provide for a novel definition for the minimum reconstruction distance beyond geometric optics, which is in principle applicable to any optical beam that admits an angular spectrum representation. Moreover, we propose to quantify the self-reconstruction ability of a beam via a newly established degree of self-healing. This is defined via a comparison between the amplitudes, as opposite to intensities, of the original beam and the obstructed one. Such comparison is experimentally accomplished by tailoring an innovative experimental technique based upon Shack-Hartmann wave front reconstruction. We believe that these results can open new avenues in this field. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America

Linear and angular momenta in tightly focused vortex segmented beams of light

Martin Neugebauer, Andrea Aiello, Peter Banzer

We investigate the linear momentum density of light, which can be decomposed into spin and orbital parts, in the complex three-dimensional field distributions of tightly focused vortex segmented beams. The chosen angular spectrum exhibits two spatially separated vortices of opposite charge and orthogonal circular polarization to generate phase vortices in a meridional plane of observation. In the vicinity of those vortices, regions of negative orbital linear momentum occur. Besides these phase vortices, the occurrence of transverse orbital angular momentum manifests in a vortex charge-dependent relative shift of the energy density and linear momentum density.

Detecting the spatial quantum uncertainty of bosonic systems

Vanessa Chille, Nicolas Treps, Claude Fabre, Gerd Leuchs, Christoph Marquardt, Andrea Aiello

Experimental generation of amplitude squeezed vector beams

Vanessa Chille, Stefan Berg-Johansen, Marion Semmler, Peter Banzer, Andrea Aiello, Gerd Leuchs, Christoph Marquardt

We present an experimental method for the generation of amplitude squeezed high-order vector beams. The light is modified twice by a spatial light modulator such that the vector beam is created by means of a collinear interferometric technique. A major advantage of this approach is that it avoids systematic losses, which are detrimental as they cause decoherence in continuous-variable quantum systems. The utilisation of a spatial light modulator (SLM) gives the flexibility to switch between arbitrary mode orders. The conversion efficiency with our setup is only limited by the efficiency of the SLM. We show the experimental generation of Laguerre-Gauss (LG) modes with radial indices 0 or 1 and azimuthal indices up to 3 with complex polarization structures and a quantum noise reduction up to -0.9dB +/- 0.1dB. The corresponding polarization structures are studied in detail by measuring the spatial distribution of the Stokes parameters. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America

Spontaneous generation of singularities in paraxial optical fields

Andrea Aiello

In nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, the spontaneous generation of singularities in smooth and finite wave functions is a well understood phenomenon also occurring for free particles. We use the familiar analogy between the two-dimensional Schrodinger equation and the optical paraxial wave equation to define a new class of square-integrable paraxial optical fields that develop a spatial singularity in the focal point of a weakly focusing thin lens. These fields are characterized by a single real parameter whose value determines the nature of the singularity. This novel field enhancement mechanism may stimulate fruitful research for diverse technological and scientific applications. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America

The ubiquitous photonic wheel

Andrea Aiello, Peter Banzer

Single-mode squeezing in arbitrary spatial modes

Marion Semmler, Stefan Berg-Johansen, Vanessa Chille, Christian Gabriel, Peter Banzer, Andrea Aiello, Christoph Marquardt, Gerd Leuchs

As the generation of squeezed states of light has become a standard technique in laboratories, attention is increasingly directed towards adapting the optical parameters of squeezed beams to the specific requirements of individual applications. It is known that imaging, metrology, and quantum information may benefit from using squeezed light with a tailored transverse spatial mode. However, experiments have so far been limited to generating only a few squeezed spatial modes within a given setup. Here, we present the generation of single-mode squeezing in Laguerre-Gauss and Bessel-Gauss modes, as well as an arbitrary intensity pattern, all from a single setup using a spatial light modulator (SLM). The degree of squeezing obtained is limited mainly by the initial squeezing and diffractive losses introduced by the SLM, while no excess noise from the SLM is detectable at the measured sideband. The experiment illustrates the single-mode concept in quantum optics and demonstrates the viability of current SLMs as flexible tools for the spatial reshaping of squeezed light. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America

Demonstration of local teleportation using classical entanglement

Diego Guzman-Silva, Robert Bruening, Felix Zimmermann, Christian Vetter, Markus Graefe, Matthias Heinrich, Stefan Nolte, Michael Duparre, Andrea Aiello, et al.

Teleportation describes the transmission of information without transport of neither matter nor energy. For many years, however, it has been implicitly assumed that this scheme is of inherently nonlocal nature, and therefore exclusive to quantum systems. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that the concept of teleportation can be readily generalized beyond the quantum realm. We present an optical implementation of the teleportation protocol solely based on classical entanglement between spatial and modal degrees of freedom, entirely independent of nonlocality. Our findings could enable novel methods for distributing information between different transmission channels and may provide the means to leverage the advantages of both quantum and classical systems to create a robust hybrid communication infrastructure.

Classically entangled optical beams for high-speed kinematic sensing

Stefan Berg-Johansen, Falk Toeppel, Birgit Stiller, Peter Banzer, Marco Ornigotti, Elisabeth Giacobino, Gerd Leuchs, Andrea Aiello, Christoph Marquardt

Tracking the kinematics of fast-moving objects is an important diagnostic tool for science and engineering. Here, we demonstrate an approach to positional and directional sensing based on the concept of classical entanglement in vector beams of light [Found. Phys. 28, 361 -374 (1998)]. The measurement principle relies on the intrinsic correlations existing in such beams between transverse spatial modes and polarization. The latter can be determined from intensity measurements with only a few fast photodiodes, greatly outperforming the bandwidth of current CCD/CMOS devices. In this way, our setup enables two-dimensional real-time sensing with temporal resolution in the GHz range. We expect the concept to open up new directions in metrology and sensing. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America

Note on the helicity decomposition of spin and orbital optical currents

Andrea Aiello, M. V. Berry

In the helicity representation, the Poynting vector (current) for a monochromatic optical field, when calculated using either the electric or the magnetic field, separates into right-handed and left-handed contributions, with no cross-helicity contributions. Cross-helicity terms do appear in the orbital and spin contributions to the current. But when the electric and magnetic formulas are averaged ('electric-magnetic democracy'), these terms cancel, restoring the separation into right-handed and left-handed currents for orbital and spin separately.

Quantum theory of an electromagnetic observer: Classically behaving macroscopic systems and the emergence of the classical world in quantum electrodynamics

L. I. Plimak, Misha Ivanov, A. Aiello, S. Stenholm

Quantum electrodynamics under conditions of distinguishability of interactingmatter entities, and of controlled actions and back-actions between them, is considered. Such "mesoscopic quantum electrodynamics" is shown to share its dynamical structure with the classical stochastic electrodynamics. In formal terms, we demonstrate that all general relations of the mesoscopic quantum electrodynamics may be recast in a form lacking Planck's constant. Mesoscopic quantum electrodynamics is therefore subject to "doing quantum electrodynamics while thinking classically," allowing one to substitute essentially classical considerations for quantum ones without any loss in generality. Implications of these results for the quantum measurement theory are discussed.

Quantum-like nonseparable structures in optical beams

Andrea Aiello, Falk Toeppel, Christoph Marquardt, Elisabeth Giacobino, Gerd Leuchs

When two or more degrees of freedom become coupled in a physical system, a number of observables of the latter cannot be represented by mathematical expressions separable with respect to the different degrees of freedom. In recent years it appeared clear that these expressions may display the same mathematical structures exhibited by multiparty entangled states in quantum mechanics. In this work, we investigate the occurrence of such structures in optical beams, a phenomenon that is often referred to as 'classical entanglement'. We present a unified theory for different kinds of light beams exhibiting classical entanglement and we indicate several possible extensions of the concept. Our results clarify and shed new light upon the physics underlying this intriguing aspect of classical optics.

Quantum uncertainty in the beam width of spatial optical modes

Vanessa Chille, Peter Banzer, Andrea Aiello, Gerd Leuchs, Christoph Marquardt, Nicolas Treps, Claude Fabre

We theoretically investigate the quantum uncertainty in the beam width of transverse optical modes and, for this purpose, define a corresponding quantum operator. Single mode states are studied as well as multimode states with small quantum noise. General relations are derived, and specific examples of different modes and quantum states are examined. For the multimode case, we show that the quantum uncertainty in the beam width can be completely attributed to the amplitude quadrature uncertainty of one specific mode, which is uniquely determined by the field under investigation. This discovery provides us with a strategy for the reduction of the beam width noise by an appropriate choice of the quantum state. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America

Measuring the Transverse Spin Density of Light

Martin Neugebauer, Thomas Bauer, Andrea Aiello, Peter Banzer

We generate tightly focused optical vector beams whose electric fields spin around an axis transverse to the beams' propagation direction. We experimentally investigate these fields by exploiting the directional near-field interference of a dipolelike plasmonic field probe placed adjacent to a dielectric interface. This directionality depends on the transverse electric spin density of the excitation field. Near-to far-field conversion mediated by the dielectric interface enables us to detect the directionality of the emitted light in the far field and, therefore, to measure the transverse electric spin density with nanoscopic resolution. Finally, we determine the longitudinal electric component of Belinfante's elusive spin momentum density, a solenoidal field quantity often referred to as "virtual."

Cylindrically polarized Bessel-Gauss beams

Daena Madhi, Marco Ornigotti, Andrea Aiello

We present a study of radially and azimuthally polarized Bessel-Gauss (BG) beams in both the paraxial and nonparaxial regime. We discuss the validity of the paraxial approximation and the form of the nonparaxial corrections for BG beams. We show that independently on the ratio between the Bessel aperture cone angle theta(0) and the Gaussian beam divergence theta(0), the nonparaxial corrections are alway very small and therefore negligible. The explicit expressions for the nonparaxial vector electric field components are also reported.

Goos-Hanchen and Imbert-Fedorov shifts for astigmatic Gaussian beams

Marco Ornigotti, Andrea Aiello

In this work we investigate the role of the beam astigmatism in the Goos-Hanchen and Imbert-Fedorov shift. As a case study, we consider a Gaussian beam focused by an astigmatic lens and we calculate explicitly the corrections to the standard formulas for beam shifts due to the astigmatism induced by the lens. Our results show that the different focusing in the longitudinal and transverse direction introduced by an astigmatic lens may enhance the angular part of the shift.

Optimal Frames for Polarization State Reconstruction

Matthew R. Foreman, Alberto Favaro, Andrea Aiello

Complete determination of the polarization state of light requires at least four distinct projective measurements of the associated Stokes vector. Stability of state reconstruction, however, hinges on the condition number kappa of the corresponding instrument matrix. Optimization of redundant measurement frames with an arbitrary number of analysis states, m, is considered in this Letter in the sense of minimization of kappa. The minimum achievable kappa is analytically found and shown to be independent of m, except for m = 5 where this minimum is unachievable. Distribution of the optimal analysis states over the Poincare sphere is found to be described by spherical 2 designs, including the Platonic solids as special cases. Higher order polarization properties also play a key role in nonlinear, stochastic, and quantum processes. Optimal measurement schemes for nonlinear measurands of degree t are hence also considered and found to correspond to spherical 2t designs, thereby constituting a generalization of the concept of mutually unbiased bases.

Goos-Hanchen and Imbert-Fedorov shifts for paraxial X-waves

Marco Ornigotti, Andrea Aiello, Claudio Conti

We present a theoretical analysis for the Goos-Hanchen and Imbert-Fedorov shifts experienced by an X-wave upon reflection from a dielectric interface. We show that the temporal chirp, as well as the bandwidth of the X-wave, directly affect the spatial shifts in a way that can be experimentally observed, while the angular shifts do not depend on the spectral features of the X-wave. A dependence of the spatial shifts on the spatial structure of the X-wave is also discussed. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America

From transverse angular momentum to photonic wheels

Andrea Aiello, Peter Banzer, Martin Neugebauer, Gerd Leuchs

Scientists have known for more than a century that light possesses both linear and angular momenta along the direction of propagation. However, only recent advances in optics have led to the notion of spinning electromagnetic fields capable of carrying angular momenta transverse to the direction of motion. Such fields enable numerous applications in nano-optics, biosensing and near-field microscopy, including three-dimensional control over atoms, molecules and nanostructures, and allowing for the realization of chiral nanophotonic interfaces and plasmonic devices. Here, we report on recent developments of optics with light carrying transverse spin. We present both the underlying principles and the latest achievements, and also highlight new capabilities and future applications emerging from this young yet already advanced field of research.

Interaction of Relativistic Electron-Vortex Beams with Few-Cycle Laser Pulses

Armen G. Hayrapetyan, Oliver Matula, Andrea Aiello, Andrey Surzhykov, Stephan Fritzsche

We study the interaction of relativistic electron-vortex beams (EVBs) with laser light. Exact analytical solutions for this problem are obtained by employing the Dirac-Volkov wave functions to describe the (monoenergetic) distribution of the electrons in vortex beams with well-defined orbital angular momentum. Our new solutions explicitly show that the orbital angular momentum components of the laser field couple to the total angular momentum of the electrons. When the field is switched off, it is shown that the laser-driven EVB coincides with the field-free EVB as reported by Bliokh et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 174802 (2011)]. Moreover, we calculate the probability density for finding an electron in the beam profile and demonstrate that the center of the beam is shifted with respect to the center of the field-free EVB.

Surface angular momentum of light beams

Marco Ornigotti, Andrea Aiello

Traditionally, the angular momentum of light is calculated for "bullet-like" electromagnetic wave packets, although in actual optical experiments "pencil-like" beams of light are more commonly used. The fact that a wave packet is bounded transversely and longitudinally while a beam has, in principle, an infinite extent along the direction of propagation, renders incomplete the textbook calculation of the spin/orbital separation of the angular momentum of a light beam. In this work we demonstrate that a novel, extra surface part must be added in order to preserve the gauge invariance of the optical angular momentum per unit length. The impact of this extra term is quantified by means of two examples: a Laguerre-Gaussian and a Bessel beam, both circularly polarized. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America

Radial quantum number of Laguerre-Gauss modes

E. Karimi, R. W. Boyd, P. de la Hoz, H. de Guise, J. Rehacek, Z. Hradil, A. Aiello, G. Leuchs, L. L. Sanchez-Soto

We introduce an operator linked with the radial index in the Laguerre-Gauss modes of a two-dimensional harmonic oscillator in cylindrical coordinates. We discuss ladder operators for this variable, and confirm that they obey the commutation relations of the su(1,1) algebra. Using this fact, we examine how basic quantum optical concepts can be recast in terms of radial modes.

Classical entanglement in polarization metrology

Falk Toeppel, Andrea Aiello, Christoph Marquardt, Elisabeth Giacobino, Gerd Leuchs

Quantum approaches relying on entangled photons have been recently proposed to increase the efficiency of optical measurements. We demonstrate here that, surprisingly, the use of classical light with entangled degrees of freedom can also bring outstanding advantages over conventional measurements in polarization metrology. Specifically, we show that radially polarized beams of light allow to perform real-time single-shot Mueller matrix polarimetry. Our results also indicate that quantum optical procedures requiring entanglement without nonlocality can be actually achieved in the classical optics regime.

The Hertz vector revisited: a simple physical picture

Marco Ornigotti, Andrea Aiello

The polarization potentials, also known as Hertz vectors, are useful auxiliary fields that permit the calculation of the fundamental electromagnetic fields in many cases of practical importance. In this article we show that in a vacuum a single Hertz vector written as the product of a scalar potential and a constant vector, naturally arises as consequence of the transversality of the electromagnetic fields. Thus, our treatment shines a new light on the physical meaning of a Hertz potential.

Geometric spin Hall effect of light in tightly focused polarization-tailored light beams

Martin Neugebauer, Peter Banzer, Thomas Bauer, Sergej Orlov, Norbert Lindlein, Andrea Aiello, Gerd Leuchs

Recently, it was shown that a nonzero transverse angular momentum manifests itself in a polarization-dependent intensity shift of the barycenter of a paraxial light beam [Aiello et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 100401 (2009)]. The underlying effect is phenomenologically similar to the spin Hall effect of light but does not depend on the specific light-matter interaction and can be interpreted as a purely geometric effect. Thus, it was named the geometric spin Hall effect of light. Here, we experimentally investigate the appearance of this effect in tightly focused vector beams. We use an experimental nanoprobing technique in combination with a reconstruction algorithm to verify the relative shifts of the components of the electric energy density and the shift of the intensity in the focal plane. By that, we experimentally demonstrate the geometric spin Hall effect of light in a highly nonparaxial beam.

Wave-optics description of self-healing mechanism in Bessel beams

Andrea Aiello, Girish S. Agarwal

Bessel beams' great importance in optics lies in that these propagate without spreading and can reconstruct themselves behind an obstruction placed across their path. However, a rigorous wave-optics explanation of the latter property is missing. In this work, we study the reconstruction mechanism by means of a wave-optics description. We obtain expressions for the minimum distance beyond the obstruction at which the beam reconstructs itself, which are in close agreement with the traditional one determined from geometrical optics. Our results show that the physics underlying the self-healing mechanism can be entirely explained in terms of the propagation of plane waves with radial wave vectors lying on a ring. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America

Near field of an oscillating electric dipole and cross-polarization of a collimated beam of light: Two sides of the same coin

Andrea Aiello, Marco Ornigotti

We address the question of whether there exists a hidden relationship between the near-field distribution generated by an oscillating electric dipole and the so-called cross-polarization of a collimated beam of light. We find that the answer is affirmative by showing that the complex field distributions occurring in both cases have a common physical origin: the requirement that the electromagnetic fields must be transverse. (C) 2014 American Association of Physics Teachers.

Observation of the Geometric Spin Hall Effect of Light

Jan Korger, Andrea Aiello, Vanessa Chille, Peter Banzer, Christoffer Wittmann, Norbert Lindlein, Christoph Marquardt, Gerd Leuchs

The spin Hall effect of light (SHEL) is the photonic analogue of the spin Hall effect occurring for charge carriers in solid-state systems. This intriguing phenomenon manifests itself when a light beam refracts at an air-glass interface (conventional SHEL) or when it is projected onto an oblique plane, the latter effect being known as the geometric SHEL. It amounts to a polarization-dependent displacement perpendicular to the plane of incidence. In this work, we experimentally investigate the geometric SHEL for a light beam transmitted across an oblique polarizer. We find that the spatial intensity distribution of the transmitted beam depends on the incident state of polarization and its centroid undergoes a positional displacement exceeding one wavelength. This novel phenomenon is virtually independent from the material properties of the polarizer and, thus, reveals universal features of spin-orbit coupling.

Generalized Bessel beams with two indices

Marco Ornigotti, Andrea Aiello

We report on a new class of exact solutions of the scalar Helmholtz equation obtained by carefully engineering the form of the angular spectrum of a Bessel beam. We consider in particular the case in which the angular spectrum of such generalized beams has, in the paraxial zone, the same radial structure as Laguerre-Gaussian beams. We investigate the form of these new beams as well as their peculiar propagation properties. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America

The photonic wheel - demonstration of a state of light with purely transverse angular momentum

P. Banzer, M. Neugebauer, A. Aiello, C. Marquardt, N. Lindlein, T. Bauer, G. Leuchs

In classical mechanics, a system may possess angular momentum which can be either transverse (e.g. in a spinning wheel) or longitudinal (e.g. for a spiraling seed falling from a tree) with respect to the direction of motion. However, for light, a typical massless wave system, the situation is less versatile. Photons are well-known to exhibit intrinsic angular momentum which is longitudinal only: the spin angular momentum defining the polarization and the orbital angular momentum associated with a spiraling phase front. Here we show that it is possible to generate a novel state of the light field that contains purely transverse angular momentum, the analogue of a spinning mechanical wheel. We realize this state by tight focusing of a polarization tailored light beam and measure it using an optical nano-probing technique. Such a novel state of the light field can find applications in optical tweezers and spanners where it allows for additional rotational degree of freedom not achievable in single-beam configurations so far.

Total internal reflection of orbital angular momentum beams

W. Loffler, N. Hermosa, Andrea Aiello, J. P. Woerdman

We investigate how beams with orbital angular momentum (OAM) behave under total internal reflection. This is studied in two complementary experiments: in the first experiment, we study geometric shifts of OAM beams upon total internal reflection (Goos-Hanchen and Imbert-Fedorov shifts, for each the spatial and angular variant), and in the second experiment we determine changes in the OAM mode spectrum of a beam, again upon total internal reflection. As a result we find that, in the first case, the shifts are independent of OAM and beam focusing, while in the second case, modifications in the OAM spectrum occur which depend on the input OAM mode as well as on the beam focusing. This is investigated by experiment and theory. We also show how the two methods, beam shifts on the one hand, and OAM spectrum changes on the other, are related theoretically.

Goos-Hanchen and Imbert-Fedorov shifts for bounded wavepackets of light

Marco Ornigotti, Andrea Aiello

We present precise expressions for the spatial and angular Goos-Hanchen and Imbert-Fedorov shifts experienced by a longitudinally and transversally limited beam of light (wavepacket) upon reflection from a dielectric interface, as opposed to the well-known case of a monochromatic beam which is bounded in transverse directions but infinitely extended along the direction of propagation. This is done under the assumption that the detector time is longer than the temporal length of the wavepacket (wavepacket regime). Our results will be applied to the case of a Gaussian wavepacket and show that, at the leading order in the Taylor expansion of reflected field amplitudes, the results are the same as in the monochromatic case.

The polarization properties of a tilted polarizer

Jan Korger, Tobias Kolb, Peter Banzer, Andrea Aiello, Christoffer Wittmann, Christoph Marquardt, Gerd Leuchs

Polarizers are key components in optical science and technology. Thus, understanding the action of a polarizer beyond oversimplifying approximations is crucial. In this work, we study the interaction of a polarizing interface with an obliquely incident wave experimentally. To this end, a set of Mueller matrices is acquired employing a novel procedure robust against experimental imperfections. We connect our observation to a geometric model, useful to predict the effect of polarizers on complex light fields. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America

Goos-Hanchen and Imbert-Fedorov shifts from a quantum-mechanical perspective

Falk Toeppel, Marco Ornigotti, Andrea Aiello

We study the classical optics effects known as Goos-Hanchen and Imbert-Fedorov shifts, occurring when reflecting a bounded light beam from a planar surface, by using a quantum-mechanical formalism. This new approach allows us to naturally separate the spatial shift into two parts, one independent on orbital angular momentum (OAM) and the other one showing OAM-induced spatial-versus-angular shift mixing. In addition, within this quantum-mechanical-like formalism, it becomes apparent that the angular shift is proportional to the beams angular spread, namely to the variance of the transverse components of the wave vector. Moreover, we extend our treatment to the enhancement of beam shifts via weak measurements and relate our results to the recent experiments.

Classical optics representation of the quantum mechanical translation operator via ABCD matrices

Marco Ornigotti, Andrea Aiello

The ABCD matrix formalism describing paraxial propagation of optical beams across linear systems is generalized to arbitrary beam trajectories. As a by-product of this study, a one-to-one correspondence between the extended ABCD matrix formalism presented here and the quantum mechanical translation operator is established.

Identical classical particles: Half fermions and half bosons

Falk Toeppel, Andrea Aiello

We study the problem of particle indistinguishability for the three cases known in nature: identical classical particles, identical bosons, and identical fermions. By exploiting the fact that different types of particles are associated with Hilbert space vectors with different symmetries, we establish some relations between the expectation value of several different operators, as the particle number one and the interparticle correlation one, evaluated for states of a pair of identical classical particles, bosons, and fermions. We find that the quantum behavior of a pair of identical classical particles has exactly half fermionic and half bosonic characteristics.

Radially and azimuthally polarized nonparaxial Bessel beams made simple

Marco Ornigotti, Andrea Aiello

We present a method for the realization of radially and azimuthally polarized nonparaxial Bessel beams in a rigorous but simple manner. This result is achieved by using the concept of Hertz vector potential to generate exact vector solutions of Maxwell's equations from scalar Bessel beams. The scalar part of the Hertz potential is built by analogy with the paraxial case as a linear combination of Bessel beams carrying a unit of orbital angular momentum. In this way we are able to obtain spatial and polarization patterns analogous to the ones exhibited by the standard cylindrically polarized paraxial beams. Applications of these beams are discussed. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America

Goos-Hanchen and Imbert-Fedorov beam shifts: an overview

K. Y. Bliokh, A. Aiello

We consider reflection and transmission of polarized paraxial light beams at a plane dielectric interface. The field transformations taking into account a finite beam width are described based on the plane-wave representation and geometric rotations. Using geometrical-optics coordinate frames accompanying the beams, we construct an effective Jones matrix characterizing spatial-dispersion properties of the interface. This results in a unified self-consistent description of the Goos-Hanchen and Imbert-Fedorov shifts (the latter being also known as the spin Hall effect of light). Our description reveals the intimate relation of the transverse Imbert-Fedorov shift to the geometric phases between constituent waves in the beam spectrum and to the angular momentum conservation for the whole beam. Both spatial and angular shifts are considered as well as their analogues for higher-order vortex beams carrying intrinsic orbital angular momentum. We also give a brief overview of various extensions and generalizations of the basic beam-shift phenomena and related effects.

A versatile source of single photons for quantum information processing

Michael Foertsch, Josef U. Fuerst, Christoffer Wittmann, Dmitry Strekalov, Andrea Aiello, Maria V. Chekhova, Christine Silberhorn, Gerd Leuchs, Christoph Marquardt

The generation of high-quality single-photon states with controllable narrow spectral bandwidths and central frequencies is key to facilitate efficient coupling of any atomic system to non-classical light fields. Such an interaction is essential in numerous experiments for fundamental science and applications in quantum communication and information processing, as well as in quantum metrology. Here we implement a fully tunable, narrow-band and efficient single-photon source based on a whispering gallery mode resonator. Our disk-shaped, monolithic and intrinsically stable resonator is made of lithium niobate and supports a cavity-assisted spontaneous parametric down-conversion process. The generated photon pairs are emitted into two highly tunable resonator modes. We verify wavelength tuning over 100 nm of both modes with controllable bandwidth between 7.2 and 13 MHz. Heralding of single photons yields anti-bunching with g((2))(0) < 0.2.

Role of spatial coherence in Goos-Hanchen and Imbert-Fedorov shifts: reply to comment

Andrea Aiello, J. P. Woerdman

Wang and Liu [Opt. Lett. 37, 1056 (2012)] comment on our previous Letter [Opt. Lett. 36, 3151 (2011)] regarding the validity of the theory we presented. We reply to their comment here. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America

All photons are equal but some photons are more equal than others

Falk Toeppel, Andrea Aiello, Gerd Leuchs

Two photons are said to be identical if they are prepared in the same quantum state. Given the latter, there is a unique way to achieve this. Conversely, there are many different ways of preparing two non-identical photons: they may differ in frequency, polarization, amplitude, etc. Therefore, photon distinguishability depends upon the specific degree of freedom being varied. By means of a careful analysis of the coincidence probability distribution in a Hong-Ou-Mandel experiment, we can show that photon distinguishability can be actually quantified by the rate of distinguishability of photons, an experimentally measurable parameter that crucially depends on both the photon quantum state and the degree of freedom under control.

Visualizing the quantum interaction picture in phase space

Bahar Mehmani, Andrea Aiello

We present a graphical example of the interaction picture-time evolution. Our aim is to help students understand in a didactic manner the simplicity that this picture provides. Visualizing the interaction picture unveils its advantages, which are hidden behind the involved mathematics. Specifically, we show that the time evolution of a driven harmonic oscillator in the interaction picture corresponds to a local transformation of a phase space-reference frame into the one that is co-rotating with the Wigner function.

Dipole pulse theory: Maximizing the field amplitude from 4 pi focused laser pulses

Ivan Gonoskov, Andrea Aiello, Simon Heugel, Gerd Leuchs

We present a class of exact nonstationary solutions of Maxwell equations in vacuum from dipole pulse theory: electric and magnetic dipole pulses. These solutions can provide for a very efficient focusing of electromagnetic field and can be generated by 4 pi focusing systems, such as parabolic mirrors, by using radially polarized laser pulses with a suitable amplitude profile. The particular cases of a monochromatic dipole wave and a short dipole pulse with either quasi-Gaussian or Gaussian envelopes in the far-field region are analyzed and compared in detail. As a result, we propose how to increase the maximum field amplitude in the focus by properly shaping the temporal profile of the input laser pulses with given main wavelength and peak power.

Goos-Hanchen and Imbert-Fedorov shifts: a novel perspective

Andrea Aiello

When a beam of light is reflected by a smooth surface its behavior deviates from geometrical optics predictions. Such deviations are quantified by the so-called spatial and angular Goos-Hanchen (GH) and Imbert-Fedorov (IF) shifts of the reflected beam. These shifts depend upon the shape of the incident beam, its polarization and on the material composition of the reflecting surface. In this paper we suggest a novel approach that allows one to unambiguously isolate the beam-shape dependent aspects of GH and IF shifts. We show that this separation is possible as a result of some universal features of shifted distribution functions which are presented and discussed.

Radial mode dependence of optical beam shifts

N. Hermosa, Andrea Aiello, J. P. Woerdman

It is known that orbital angular momentum (OAM) couples the Goos-Hanchen and Imbert-Fedorov shifts. Here, we present the first study of these shifts when the OAM-endowed LG(l,p) beams have higher-order radial mode index (p > 0). We show theoretically and experimentally that the angular shifts are enhanced by p while the positional shifts are not. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America

Observation of Orbital Angular Momentum Sidebands due to Optical Reflection

W. Loffler, Andrea Aiello, J. P. Woerdman

We investigate how the orbital angular momentum of a paraxial light beam is affected upon reflection at a planar interface. Theoretically, the unavoidable angular spread of the beam leads to orbital angular momentum sidebands, which are found to be already significant for a modest beam spread (0.05). In analogy to the polarization Fresnel coefficients, we develop an analytical theory based upon spatial Fresnel coefficients; this allows a straightforward prediction of the strength of the sidebands. We confirm this by experiment and numerical simulation.

Tools for detecting entanglement between different degrees of freedom in quadrature squeezed cylindrically polarized modes

C. Gabriel, A. Aiello, S. Berg-Johansen, Ch Marquardt, G. Leuchs

Quadrature squeezed cylindrically polarized modes contain entanglement not only in the polarization and spatial electric field variables but also between these two degrees of freedom [C. Gabriel et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 060502 (2011)]. In this paper we present tools to generate and detect this entanglement. Experimentally we demonstrate the generation of quadrature squeezing in cylindrically polarized modes by mode transforming a squeezed Gaussian mode. Specifically, -1.2dB +/- 0.1 dB of amplitude squeezing are achieved in the radially and azimuthally polarized mode. Furthermore, theoretically it is shown how the entanglement contained within these modes can be measured and how strong the quantum correlations are, depending on the measurement scheme.

Spatial Coherence and Optical Beam Shifts

W. Loffler, Andrea Aiello, J. P. Woerdman

A beam of light, reflected at a planar interface, does not follow perfectly the ray optics prediction. Diffractive corrections lead to beam shifts; the reflected beam is displaced (spatial Goos-Hanchen type shifts) and/or travels in a different direction (angular Imbert-Fedorov type shifts), as compared to geometric optics. How does the degree of spatial coherence of light influence these shifts? We investigate this issue first experimentally and find that the degree of spatial coherence influences the angular beam shifts, while the spatial beam shifts are unaffected.

Geometric Spin Hall Effect of Light at polarizing interfaces

J. Korger, A. Aiello, C. Gabriel, P. Banzer, T. Kolb, C. Marquardt, G. Leuchs

The geometric Spin Hall Effect of Light (geometric SHEL) amounts to a polarization-dependent positional shift when a light beam is observed from a reference frame tilted with respect to its direction of propagation. Motivated by this intriguing phenomenon, the energy density of the light beam is decomposed into its Cartesian components in the tilted reference frame. This illustrates the occurrence of the characteristic shift and the significance of the effective response function of the detector. We introduce the concept of a tilted polarizing interface and provide a scheme for its experimental implementation. A light beam passing through such an interface undergoes a shift resembling the original geometric SHEL in a tilted reference frame. This displacement is generated at the polarizer and its occurrence does not depend on the properties of the detection system. We give explicit results for this novel type of geometric SHEL and show that at grazing incidence this effect amounts to a displacement of multiple wavelengths, a shift larger than the one introduced by Goos-Hanchen and Imbert-Fedorov effects.

Quadrant detector calibration for vortex beams

N. Hermosa, A. Aiello, J. P. Woerdman

This Letter reports an experimental and theoretical study of the response of a quadrant detector (QD) to an incident vortex beam, specifically a Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beam. We have found that the LG beam response depends on the vorticity index l. We compare LG beams with hard-ringed beams and find that at higher l values, the QD response to LG beams can be approximated by its response to hard-ringed beams. Our findings are important in view of the increasing interest in optical vortex beams. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America

Classical and quantum properties of cylindrically polarized states of light

Annemarie Holleczek, Andrea Aiello, Christian Gabriel, Christoph Marquardt, Gerd Leuchs

We investigate theoretical properties of beams of light with non-uniform polarization patterns. Specifically, we determine all possible configurations of cylindrically polarized modes (CPMs) of the electromagnetic field, calculate their total angular momentum and highlight the subtleties of their structure. Furthermore, a hybrid spatio-polarization description for such modes is introduced and developed. In particular, two independent Poincare spheres have been introduced to represent simultaneously the polarization and spatial degree of freedom of CPMs. Possible mode-to-mode transformations accomplishable with the help of Bconventional polarization and spatial phase retarders are shown within this representation. Moreover, the importance of these CPMs in the quantum optics domain due to their classical features is highlighted. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America

Theory of anisotropic whispering-gallery-mode resonators

Marco Ornigotti, Andrea Aiello

An analytic solution for a uniaxial spherical resonator is presented using the method of Debye potentials. This serves as a starting point for the calculation of whispering gallery modes (WGMs) in such a resonator. Suitable approximations for the radial functions are discussed in order to best characterize WGMs. The characteristic equation and its asymptotic expansion for the anisotropic case is also discussed, and an analytic formula with a precision of the order O[nu(-1)] is also given. Our careful treatment of both boundary conditions and asymptotic expansions makes the present work a particularly suitable platform for a quantum theory of whispering gallery resonators.

Role of spatial coherence in Goos-Hanchen and Imbert-Fedorov shifts

Andrea Aiello, J. P. Woerdman

We present a theory for Goos-Hanchen (GH) and Imbert-Fedorov (IF) shifts for beams of light with arbitrary spatial coherence. By applying the well-known theory of partial spatial coherence, we can calculate explicitly spatial and angular GH and IF shifts for completely polarized beams of any shape and spatial coherence. For the specific case of a Gauss-Schell source, we find that only the angular part of GH and IF shifts is affected by the spatial coherence of the beam. A physical explanation of our results is given. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America

Spin Hall effect of light in metallic reflection

N. Hermosa, A. M. Nugrowati, Andrea Aiello, J. P. Woerdman

We report the first measurement of the spin Hall effect of light (SHEL) on an air-metal interface. The SHEL is a polarization-dependent out-of-plane shift on the reflected beam. For the case of metallic reflection with a linearly polarized incident light, both the spatial and angular variants of the shift are observed and are maximum for -45 degrees/45 degrees polarization, but zero for pure s and p polarization. For an incoming beam with circular polarization states however, only the spatial out-of-plane shift is present. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America

Quantum Light from a Whispering-Gallery-Mode Disk Resonator

J. U. Fuerst, D. V. Strekalov, D. Elser, A. Aiello, U. L. Andersen, Ch Marquardt, G. Leuchs

Optical parametric down-conversion has proven to be a valuable source of nonclassical light. The process is inherently able to produce twin-beam correlations along with individual intensity squeezing of either parametric beam, when pumped far above threshold. Here, we present for the first time the direct observation of intensity squeezing of -1.2 dB of each of the individual parametric beams in parametric down-conversion by use of a high quality whispering-gallery-mode disk resonator. In addition, we observed twin-beam quantum correlations of -2.7 dB with this cavity. Such resonators feature strong optical confinement and offer tunable coupling to an external optical field. This work exemplifies the potential of crystalline whispering-gallery-mode resonators for the generation of quantum light. The simplicity of this device makes the application of quantum light in various fields highly feasible.

Entangling Different Degrees of Freedom by Quadrature Squeezing Cylindrically Polarized Modes

C. Gabriel, A. Aiello, W. Zhong, T. G. Euser, N. Y. Joly, P. Banzer, M. Foertsch, D. Elser, U. L. Andersen, et al.

Quantum systems such as, for example, photons, atoms, or Bose-Einstein condensates, prepared in complex states where entanglement between distinct degrees of freedom is present, may display several intriguing features. In this Letter we introduce the concept of such complex quantum states for intense beams of light by exploiting the properties of cylindrically polarized modes. We show that already in a classical picture the spatial and polarization field variables of these modes cannot be factorized. Theoretically it is proven that by quadrature squeezing cylindrically polarized modes one generates entanglement between these two different degrees of freedom. Experimentally we demonstrate amplitude squeezing of an azimuthally polarized mode by exploiting the nonlinear Kerr effect in a specially tailored photonic crystal fiber. These results display that such novel continuous-variable entangled systems can, in principle, be realized.

Goos-Hanchen and Imbert-Fedorov shifts of a nondiffracting Bessel beam

Andrea Aiello, J. P. Woerdman

Goos-Hanchen (GH) and Imbert-Fedorov (IF) shifts are diffractive corrections to geometric optics that have been extensively studied for a Gaussian beam that is reflected or transmitted by a dielectric interface. Propagating in free space before and after reflection or transmission, such a Gaussian beam spreads due to diffraction. We address here the question of how the GH and IF shifts behave for a "nondiffracting" Bessel beam. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America

Transverse angular momentum of photons

Andrea Aiello, Christoph Marquardt, Gerd Leuchs

We develop the quantum theory of transverse angular momentum of light beams. The theory applies to paraxial and quasiparaxial photon beams in vacuum and reproduces the known results for classical beams when applied to coherent states of the field. Both the Poynting vector, alias the linear momentum, and the angular-momentum quantum operators of a light beam are calculated including contributions from first-order transverse derivatives. This permits a correct description of the energy flow in the beam and the natural emergence of both the spin and the angular momentum of the photons. We show that for collimated beams of light, orbital angular-momentum operators do not satisfy the standard commutation rules. Finally, we discuss the application of our theory to some concrete cases.

Demonstration of a quasi-scalar angular Goos-Hanchen effect

M. Merano, N. Hermosa, A. Aiello, J. P. Woerdman

We show experimentally that the angular Goos-Hanchen (GH) effect can be easily observed, also without employing its resonant enhancement at Brewster incidence. An s-polarized beam was used to decouple the polarization from the propagation dynamics of the beam. We found that, in this case, the angular GH effect can be strongly enhanced by increasing the angular aperture of the Gaussian beam. Our experiments suggest a route toward observing the angular GH effect for true scalar waves, such as acoustic waves and quantum matter waves. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

How orbital angular momentum affects beam shifts in optical reflection

M. Merano, N. Hermosa, J. P. Woerdman, A. Aiello

It is well known that reflection of a Gaussian light beam (TEM(00)) by a planar dielectric interface leads to four beam shifts when compared to the geometrical-optics prediction. These are the spatial Goos-Hanchen (GH) shift, the angular GH shift, the spatial Imbert-Fedorov (IF) shift, and the angular IF shift. We report here, theoretically and experimentally, that endowing the beam with orbital angular momentum leads to coupling of these four shifts; this is described by a 4 x 4 mixing

Angular momenta and spin-orbit interaction of nonparaxial light in free space

Konstantin Y. Bliokh, Miguel A. Alonso, Elena A. Ostrovskaya, Andrea Aiello

We give an exact self-consistent operator description of the spin and orbital angular momenta, position, and spin-orbit interactions of nonparaxial light in free space. Both quantum-operator formalism and classical energy-flow approach are presented. We apply the general theory to symmetric and asymmetric Bessel beams exhibiting spin-and orbital-dependent intensity profiles. The exact wave solutions are clearly interpreted in terms of the Berry phases, quantization of caustics, and Hall effects of light, which can be readily observed experimentally.

Low-Threshold Optical Parametric Oscillations in a Whispering Gallery Mode Resonator

J. U. Fuerst, D. V. Strekalov, D. Elser, A. Aiello, U. L. Andersen, Ch. Marquardt, G. Leuchs

In whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonator light is guided by continuous total internal reflection along a curved surface. Fabricating such resonators from an optically nonlinear material one takes advantage of their exceptionally high quality factors and small mode volumes to achieve extremely efficient optical frequency conversion. Our analysis of the phase-matching conditions for optical parametric down-conversion (PDC) in a spherical WGM resonator shows their direct relation to the sum rules for photons' angular momenta and predicts a very low parametric oscillation threshold. We realized such an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on naturally phase-matched PDC in lithium niobate. We demonstrated a single-mode, strongly nondegenerate OPO with a threshold of 6: 7 mu W and linewidth under 10 MHz. This work demonstrates the remarkable capabilities of WGM-based OPOs.

Duality between spatial and angular shift in optical reflection

A. Aiello, M. Merano, J. P. Woerdman

We report a unified representation of the spatial and angular Goos-Hanchen and Imbert-Fedorov shifts that occur when a light beam reflects from a plane interface. We thus reveal the dual nature of spatial and angular shifts in optical beam reflection. In the Goos-Hanchen case we show theoretically and experimentally that this unification naturally arises in the context of reflection from a lossy surface (e. g., a metal)

Transverse Angular Momentum and Geometric Spin Hall Effect of Light

Andrea Aiello, Norbert Lindlein, Christoph Marquardt, Gerd Leuchs

We present a novel fundamental phenomenon occurring when a polarized beam of light is observed from a reference frame tilted with respect to the direction of propagation of the beam. This effect has a purely geometric nature and amounts to a polarization-dependent shift or split of the beam intensity distribution evaluated as the time-averaged flux of the Poynting vector across the plane of observation. We demonstrate that such a shift is unavoidable whenever the beam possesses a nonzero transverse angular momentum. This latter result has general validity and applies to arbitrary systems such as, e.g., electronic and atomic beams.

Goos-Hanchen shift for a rough metallic mirror

M. Merano, J. B. Goette, A. Aiello, M. P. van Exter, J. P. Woerdman

We investigate experimentally the dependence of the Goos-Hanchen shift on the surface properties of an air-metal interface. The shift depends on the microscopic roughness of the metal surface but it is insensitive to the large-scale variations associated with surface non-flatness. Both an effective medium model of roughness and the Rayleigh-Rice theory of scattering are used to interpret the observed phenomenon. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America

Brewster cross polarization

A. Aiello, M. Merano, J. P. Woerdman

We theoretically derive the polarization-resolved intensity distribution of a TM-polarized fundamental Gaussian beam reflected by an air-glass plane interface at Brewster incidence. The reflected beam has both a dominant (TM) and a cross-polarized (TM) component, carried by a TEM(10) and a TEM(01) Hermite-Gaussian spatial mode, respectively. Remarkably, we find that the TE-mode power scales quadratically with the angular spread of the incident beam and is comparable to the TM-mode power. Experimental confirmations of the theoretical results are also presented. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America

Nonparaxial polarizers

Andrea Aiello, Christoph Marquardt, Gerd Leuchs

We develop a theoretical description for polarizers that goes beyond the paraxial approximation. By combining existing theories for fields with nonplanar wavefronts, we are able to derive a simple power series expansion expressing the electric field of a light beam after a polarizer as a linear function of the field and its spatial derivatives evaluated before the polarizer. The first few terms of such expansion are explicitly given, and their physical meaning is discussed. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America