Twin curvilinear vortex beams

We report on a novel curvilinear optical vortex beam named twin curvilinear vortex beams (TCVBs) with intensity and phase distribution along a pair of two- or three-dimensional curves, both of which share the same shape and the same topological charge. The TCVBs also possess the character of perfect optical vortex, namely having a size independent of topological charge. We theoretically demonstrate that a TCVB rather than a single-curve vortex beam can be created by the Fourier transform of a cylindrically polarized beam. The behavior of TCVBs generated through our method is investigated by simulation and experiment, including interference experiments for identifying the vortex property of the TCVBs. The TCVBs may find applications in optical tweezers, such as trapping low refractive index particles in the dark region between two curves and driving them moving along the curvilinear trajectory. (C) 2021 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement

Automated summary

This study introduces a novel curvilinear optical vortex beam called twin curvilinear vortex beams (TCVBs), with specific intensity and phase distribution, and demonstrates its potential applications in optical tweezers through simulation and experiment.