Measuring the Non-Separability of Optical Fields

Ndagano, B. , Sroor, H., McLaren, M., Rosales-Guzmán, C. and Forbes, A. (2017) Measuring the Non-Separability of Optical Fields. In: Complex Light and Optical Forces XI, San Francisco, CA, USA, 28 Jan - 02 Feb 2017, 101200W. ISBN 9781510606814 (doi: 10.1117/12.2254028)

Abstract

Across various areas in the optical world, there has been a growing interest in exploiting the properties of non-separable optical fields. A class of non-separable fields, known as vector modes, exhibit a coupling between the spatial and polarisation degrees of freedom that is akin of entanglement in quantum mechanics. These vector modes, however, are typically characterized using qualitative measurements which are inadequate in determining to what extent an optical field is non-separable. Here, we present tools to characterize the degree of non-separability of an arbitrary optical field, exploiting the similarities between vector modes and quantum entangled states. As an example, we use vector modes carrying orbital angular momentum to demonstrate the effectiveness of our scheme, and note that the approach can be generalized to vector modes as a whole.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Ndagano, Mr Bienvenu
• Authors: Ndagano, B., Sroor, H., McLaren, M., Rosales-Guzmán, C., and Forbes, A.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
• ISSN: 0277-786X
• ISBN: 9781510606814
• Published Online: 27 February 2017
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 SPIE
• First Published: First published in Proceedings of SPIE 10120: 101200W
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy