Polarimetric method of generating full Poincaré beams within a finite extent

Abstract

A novel polarimetric method of generating a variety of Poincaré beams such as half Poincaré beams and full Poincaré beams using doubly inhomogeneous wave plates ( d -plates) is proposed. In this method, every input state of polarization (SoP) through such a d -plate generates a unique Poincaré beam, thereby giving access to a potentially infinite number of them. Furthermore, the generation of full Poincaré beams is presented here as an instance of the geometrical problem of mapping the surface of a sphere onto a plane, and this insight allows one to design d -plates that convert the input SoP to every possible SoP, within a finite region of the beam. A gadget composed of three singly inhomogeneous wave plates for an equivalent realization of these d -plates is also presented.