Radially and azimuthally polarized beams generated by space-variant dielectric subwavelength gratings

We present a novel method for forming radially and azimuthally polarized beams by using computer-generated subwavelength dielectric gratings. The elements were deposited upon GaAs substrates and produced beams with a polarization purity of 99.2% at a wavelength of 10.6 mum. We have verified the polarization properties with full space-variant polarization analysis and measurement, and we show that such beams have certain vortexlike properties and that they carry angular momentum. (C) 2002 Optical Society of America.