分类: 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Superposition of two independent orthogonally polarized beams is a conventional principle of creating a new light beam. Here, we intend to achieve the inverse process, namely, extracting inherent polarization modes from a single light beam. However, inherent polarization modes within a light beam are always entangled so that a stable polarization is maintained during propagation in free space. To overcome this limitation, we report an approach that breaks the modulation symmetry of a light beam, thereby disentangling the inherent polarization modes. Using polarization mode competition along with an optical pen, polarization modes are extracted at will in the focal region of an objective lens. This work demonstrates polarization mode extraction from a light beam, which will not only provide an entirely new principle of polarization modulation but also pave the way for multidimensional manipulation of light fields, thereby facilitating extensive developments in optics.
分类: 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Light beam with optical vortices can propagate in free space only with integer orbital angular momentum. Here, we invert this scientific consensus theoretically and experimentally by proposing light beams carrying natural non-integer orbital angular momentum. These peculiar light beams are actually special solutions of wave function, which possess optical vortices with the topological charge l+0.5, where l is an integer. Owing to the interaction of phase and polarization singularity, these vortex beams with fractional topological charge can maintain their amplitude and vortex phase even when they propagate to an infinite distance. This work demonstrates another state of optical vortices in free space, which will fundamentally inject new vigor into optics, and other relate scientific fields.
分类: 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Photonic lattices have been widely used for simulating quantum physics, owing to the similar evolutions of paraxial waves and quantum particles. However, nonparaxial wave propagations in photonic lattices break the paradigm of the quantum-optical analogy. Here, we reveal that nonparaxiality exerts stretched and compressed forces on the energy spectrum in the celebrated Aubry-Andre-Harper model. By exploring the mini-gaps induced by the finite size of the different effects of nonparaxiality, we experimentally present that the expansion of one band gap supports the adiabatic transfer of boundary states while Landau-Zener transition occurs at the narrowing of the other gap, whereas identical transport behaviors are expected for the two gaps under paraxial approximation. Our results not only serve as a foundation of future studies of dynamic state transfer but also inspire applications leveraging nonparaxial transitions as a new degree of freedom.
分类: 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Fractional-order vector vortex beams are recently demonstrated to be new carriers of fractional-strength optical vortices. However, why can those new vortex beams formed by the combination of both unstable states propagate stably in free space? Here, we solve this scientific problem by revealing the physical essence of propagable fractional-strength optical vortices in free space.Three new understandings regarding those peculiar vortex beams are therefore proposed, namely Abbe diffraction limit, phase evolution of vortex beam, and phase binary time vector property.For the first one, owing to Abbe diffraction limit, the inherent polarization modes are intertwined together, thereby maintaining the entire peculiar vortex beams in free space. For the second one, we demonstrate the phase evolution of vortex beam, which is the physical reason of polarization rotation of fractional-order VVBs. For the third one, the phase is not merely a scalar attribute of light beam, but manifests a binary time vector property. This work provides entirely different physical viewpoints on the phase of vortex beam and Abbe diffraction limit, which may deepen our knowledge on the behavior of light beam in classical optics.
分类: 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Scattering of light in complex media scrambles optical wavefronts and breaks the principles of conventional imaging methods. For decades, researchers have endeavored to conquer the problem by inventing approaches such as adaptive optics, iterative wavefront shaping, and transmission matrix measurement. That said, imaging through/into thick scattering media remains challenging to date. With the rapid development of computing power, deep learning has been introduced and shown potentials to reconstruct target information through complex media or from rough surfaces. But it also fails once coming to optically thick media where ballistic photons become negligible. Here, instead of treating deep learning only as an image extraction method, whose best-selling advantage is to avoid complicate physical models, we exploit it as a tool to explore the underlying physical principles. By adjusting the weights of ballistic and scattered photons through a random phasemask, it is found that although deep learning can extract images from both scattered and ballistic light, the mechanisms are different: scattering may function as an encryption key and decryption from scattered light is key sensitive, while extraction from ballistic light is stable. Based on this finding, it is hypothesized and experimentally confirmed that the foundation of the generalization capability of trained neural networks for different diffusers can trace back to the contribution of ballistic photons, even though their weights of photon counting in detection are not that significant. Moreover, the study may pave an avenue for using deep learning as a probe in exploring the unknown physical principles in various fields.
分类: 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Is it possible to modulate the inherent properties of a single light beam, namely amplitude, phase and polarization, simultaneously, by merely its phase? Here, we solve this scientific problem by unifying all these three properties of a single light beam using phase vectorization and phase version of Malus's law. Full-property spatial light modulator is therefore developed based on the unification of these fundament links, which enables pixel-level polarization, amplitude and phase manipulation of light beams in a real-time dynamic way. This work not only implies that the amplitude, phase and polarization of a single light beam are interconnected, but also offers a solid answer on how to modulate these three natures of a single light beam simultaneously, which will deepen our understanding about the behavior of light beam, and facilitating extensive developments in optics and relate fields.
分类: 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: A channel should be built to transmit information from one place to another. Imaging is 2 or higher dimensional information communication. Conventionally, an imaging channel comprises a lens and free spaces of its both sides. The transfer function of each part is known; thus, the response of a conventional imaging channel is known as well. Replacing the lens with a scattering layer, the image can still be extracted from the detection plane. That is to say, the scattering medium reconstructs the channel for imaging. Aided by deep learning, we find that different from the lens there are different channels in a scattering medium, i.e., the same scattering medium can construct different channels to match different manners of source encoding. Moreover, we found that without a valid channel the convolution law for a shift-invariant system, i.e., the output is the convolution of its point spread function (PSF) and the input object, is broken, and information cannot be transmitted onto the detection plane. In other words, valid channels are essential to transmit image information through even a shift-invariant system.