Exploring vortex structures in orbital-angular-momentum beams generated from planar geometric modes with a mode converter

Abstract

It is theoretically demonstrated that the planar geometric mode with a pi/2 mode converter, so called the circularly geometric mode, can be solved from the inhomogeneous Helmholtz equation by considering the pump distribution on the lasing mode. Theoretical analysis clearly reveal that the vortex structures of circularly geometric modes are determined by the minimum order of transverse lasing modes, the total number of transverse lasing modes and the degenerate condition in the cavity. Moreover, we experimentally manifest that the circularly geometric mode can be generated from the selective pumped solid-state laser with an external pi/2 mode converter. To explore the vortex structures of the generated geometric modes, the interference patterns are performed by an experimental apparatus consisting of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The good agreement between experimental observations and numerical calculations confirms the analysis of vortex structures is reliable. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America