Radially polarized optical vortex converter created by femtosecond laser nanostructuring of glass

We demonstrate the generation of optical vortices with radial or azimuthal polarization using a space variant polarization converter, fabricated by femtosecond laser writing of self-assembled nanostructures in silica glass. Manipulation of the induced form birefringence is achieved by controlling writing parameters, in particular, the polarization azimuth of the writing beam. The fabricated converter allows switching from radial to azimuthal polarization by controlling the handedness of incident circular polarization. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3590716]