Multi-helix beams generated with binary helico-conical phase patterns

Abstract

In this paper, we generate a type of double helico-conical beam (HCB) by binarizing the modified helico-conical phase (MHCP). The diffraction patterns of the double HCBs were analyzed theoretically and experimentally. The relative position of the double HCBs can be adjusted arbitrarily by introducing a blazed grating only. In addition, the superposition of multiple binary MHCPs can be used to generate multi-helix beams. Accordingly, the diffraction patterns of the multi-helix beams were also analyzed theoretically and experimentally. The results demonstrated that the number and relative position of multi-helix beams can be adjusted by the number of superimposed MHCP profiles and the azimuth factor θ j , respectively. This kind of arrayed HCB will be potentially applied in the fields of optical manipulation and multiplexed holography.