Optical vortex dynamics induced by vortex lens shift—optical system error analysis

Optical vortices can be used in scanning microscopy. A sample can be scanned just by moving a vortex lens, introducing an optical vortex into a Gaussian beam. This technique seems to be cheap, precise and stable. In this paper the influence of various factors on this scanning technique has been investigated numerically, experimentally and analytically (when possible). Our results show that vortex scanning can be affected by Gaussian beam astigmatism. Other factors (such as optical vortex asymmetry) play a negligible role.