title: Efficient extracavity generation of radially and azimuthally polarized beams.
abstract: We demonstrate an efficient transformation of a linearly polarized Gaussian beam to a radially or an azimuthally polarized doughnut (0,1)* Laguerre-Gaussian beam of high purity. We use a spatially variable retardation plate, composed of eight sectors of a lambda/2 retardation plate, to transform a linear polarization distribution to radial/azimuthal distribution. We transformed an Nd:YAG Gaussian beam with M(2)=1.3 to a radially and azimuthally polarized (0,1)* Laguerre-Gaussian beams with M(2)=2.5 and degree of radial/azimuthal polarization of 96-98%.
authors.affiliation: SoreqNuclear Research Center, Electro-Optics Division, Yavne 81800, Israel. galina@soreq.gov.il
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Machavariani
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lumer
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Moshe
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meir
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jackel