Generation of azimuthally and radially polarized beams by coherent polarization beam combination

A new architecture for generating pure azimuthally and radially polarized beams is presented. It involves coherent polarization beam combination of two orthogonally polarized LP11 fiber modes. Experimental results reveal that high purely polarized (polarization purity of 95% or better) azimuthal and radial beams can be generated. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America