Classical and quantum properties of cylindrically polarized states of light.

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 Poincaré 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.

[1]  J. P. Woerdman,et al.  Orbital angular momentum of light and the transformation of Laguerre-Gaussian laser modes. , 1992, Physical review. A, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics.

[2]  Jay N. Damask,et al.  Polarization Optics in Telecommunications , 2004 .

[3]  Gerd Leuchs,et al.  Focusing light to a tighter spot , 2000 .

[4]  Gerd Leuchs,et al.  On the experimental investigation of the electric and magnetic response of a single nano-structure. , 2010, Optics express.

[5]  Rosario Martínez-Herrero,et al.  Characterization of Partially Polarized Light Fields , 2009 .

[6]  Magnus T. L. Hsu,et al.  Spatial-state Stokes-operator squeezing and entanglement for optical beams , 2009, 0901.4813.

[7]  Christine Silberhorn,et al.  Polarization squeezing and continuous-variable polarization entanglement , 2002 .

[8]  Tzu-Chieh Wei,et al.  Remote preparation of single-photon "hybrid" entangled and vector-polarization States. , 2010, Physical review letters.

[9]  M. Meier,et al.  Material processing with pulsed radially and azimuthally polarized laser radiation , 2007 .

[10]  R. Azzam,et al.  Ellipsometry and polarized light , 1977 .

[11]  C. Borges,et al.  Bell-like inequality for the spin-orbit separability of a laser beam , 2009, 0911.2440.

[12]  M. Scully,et al.  The Quantum Theory of Light , 1974 .

[13]  N. Treps,et al.  An experimental investigation of criteria for continuous variable entanglement , 2003, Postconference Digest Quantum Electronics and Laser Science, 2003. QELS..

[14]  S. Hell,et al.  Z-polarized confocal microscopy. , 2001, Journal of biomedical optics.

[15]  G Leuchs,et al.  Entangling different degrees of freedom by quadrature squeezing cylindrically polarized modes. , 2011, Physical review letters.

[16]  I. Chuang,et al.  Quantum Computation and Quantum Information: Introduction to the Tenth Anniversary Edition , 2010 .

[17]  G Leuchs,et al.  Sharper focus for a radially polarized light beam. , 2003, Physical review letters.

[18]  M J Padgett,et al.  Poincaré-sphere equivalent for light beams containing orbital angular momentum. , 1999, Optics letters.

[19]  Gerd Leuchs,et al.  Transverse angular momentum and geometric spin Hall effect of light. , 2009, Physical review letters.

[20]  C. Sheppard,et al.  Polarization of almost-plane waves. , 2000, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision.

[21]  Hiroyuki Sasada,et al.  Transverse-mode beam splitter of a light beam and its application to quantum cryptography , 2003 .

[22]  G Leuchs,et al.  Continuous variable entanglement and squeezing of orbital angular momentum states. , 2009, Physical review letters.

[23]  U. Peschel,et al.  Design of a mode converter for efficient light-atom coupling in free space , 2007, 0708.0772.

[24]  Alexander Jesacher,et al.  Tailoring of arbitrary optical vector beams , 2007 .