Abstract
Dove prisms and K-mirrors are devices extensively used for rotating the wavefront of an
optical field. These devices have several applications, including the
measurement of orbital angular momentum, microscopy, beam steering,
and pattern recognition. However, the wavefront rotation achieved
through these devices is always accompanied by polarization changes in
the incident field, which is an undesirable feature in many of these
applications. Although the polarization changes induced by a Dove
prism have been explored to quite some extent, no such study is
available for a K-mirror. In this paper, we theoretically and
experimentally investigate polarization changes induced in the
transmitted field by a rotating K-mirror. For quantifying such
polarization changes, we define a quantity, mean polarization change
D
, which ranges from 0 to
π
. We find that K-mirrors can reduce
D
to about
0.03
π
for any incident state of
polarization; however, reducing
D
to the same extent with a Dove prism
is practically unviable. Therefore, K-mirrors are better alternatives
to Dove prisms in applications in which the polarization changes
accompanying wavefront rotation need to be minimum.
Funder
Science and Engineering Research Board
Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India
University Grants Commission
Subject
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics,Engineering (miscellaneous),Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Cited by
2 articles.
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