Broadband Multichannel Cylindrical Vector Beam Generation by a Single Metasurface

Abstract

Beams with spatially-varying polarization states have been the topic of much interest recently due to the unusual ways in which they can interact with matter. Cylindrical vector beams (CVBs) represent the most commonly used type and feature cylindrically-symmetric polarization distributions. The optical systems employed thus far for their generation have usually only been able to produce a single CVB. To generate and observe multiple CVBs, bulky optical systems with stringent alignment tolerances have been needed. Here, a method to generate an array of CVBs using a single optical element, namely a transmission-mode dielectric metasurface, is demonstrated. The incident light is split into an ..