Generation of a mode-tunable optical vortex based on a mirror curvature dynamically controlled Z-shaped resonant cavity

We report a novel, to the best of our knowledge, mode-tunable optical vortex generation method based on a mirror curvature dynamically controlled Z-shaped resonant cavity, a mode conversion beamline, and a reference laser beamline. By changing the mirror curvature of an intra-cavity deformable mirror (DM) at a certain pumping voltage and current, various Hermite–Gaussian (HG) mode beams were obtained in the Z-shaped resonant cavity of a laser diode pumped Yb:CALGO laser. The vortex beams were realized finally by using an external cavity astigmatism converter. In the experiment, the dynamic tuning of the 1st to 9th order HG mode beams and Laguerre–Gaussian mode vortex beams carrying different orbital angular momenta, ranging from 1 ℏ to 9 ℏ were achieved by dynamically adjusting the driving voltage of the DM.