Tunable Orbital Angular Momentum Generation Based on Two Orthogonal LP Modes in Optical Fibers

Abstract

We present a method to generate tunable orbital angular momentum (OAM) based on linearly polarized (LP) modes in optical fibers. The tunable OAM is produced by combining two even (odd) LP modes with orthogonal polarization directions. The tunability of OAM is realized by controlling the power proportion of the two LP modes through a polarizer. From another perspective, the generated mixed vortex can also be regarded as a result of overlapping two orthogonal optical vortices of equal helicity but opposite chirality, then the tunable OAM can be achieved through filtering the mixed mode using a polarizer.