Shaped vector beams generated with a phase-only modulation—retarder optical configuration

This work presents a new configuration to generate vector beams, with shaped intensity and polarization distributions, based on two liquid-crystal spatial light modulators (SLM). The first device is used in a scalar mode to shape an input linearly polarized beam with a phase-only computer-generated hologram. Then, the Fourier transform is optically formed onto the second SLM, which operates as a pixelated retarder to spatially modify the state of polarization. The proposed optical architecture allows shaping the amplitude profile, while easily generating the cylindrically polarized vector beam pattern. Experimental results demonstrate the versatility of the approach.