Fiber amplification of radially and azimuthally polarized laser light

The results of amplifying either radially or azimuthally polarized light with a fiber amplifier are presented. Experimental results reveal that more than 85% polarization purity can be retained at the output even with 40 dB amplification and that efficient conversion of the amplified light to linear polarization can be obtained. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America