Interferometry with Vortices

Abstract

Interference of optical beams with optical vortices is often encountered in singular optics. Since interferometry makes the phase observable by intensity measurement, it brings out a host of applications and helps to understand the optical vortex. In this article we present an optical vortex interferometer that can be used in optical testing and has the potential to increase the accuracy of measurements. In an optical vortex interferometer (OVI), a lattice of vortices is formed, and the movement of the cores of these vortices is tracked when one of the interfering beams is deformed. Instead of multiple vortices in an OVI, an isolated single vortex also finds applications in optical testing. Finally, singularity in scalar and vector fields is presented, and the relation between them is illustrated by the superposition of these beams.