Handedness control in a 2-μm optical vortex parametric oscillator

We present the first handedness control of an optical vortex output from a vortex-pumped optical parametric oscillator. The handedness of the optical vortex was identical to that of the pump vortex beam. Over 2 mJ, 2-mu m optical vortex with a topological charge of +/- 1 was achieved. We found that the handedness of a fractional vortex with a half integer topological charge can also be selectively controlled. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America