Institute of Fundamental Technological Research

The phenomenon of excitation and cancellation of higher-order elegant Hermite–Gaussian and Laguerre–Gaussian three-dimensional beams, induced at a dielectric isotropic interface by cross-polarization coupling, is analysed. The cross-polarization effect depends quantitatively on interrelations between beam field spatial distribution and beam polarization. These relations are derived for two basic cases of linear and circular polarization and confirmed by numerical simulations.

Excitation and cancellation of higher-order elegant Hermite-Gaussian and Laguerre-Gaussian beams under normal incidence at isotropic, lossless, dielectric interfaces are analysed. It is shown that such phenomena are originated in the cross-polarization coupling between orthogonal polarization components of the beams and depend qualitatively on interrelations between beam field spatial distribution and beam polarization. For Lagueffe-Gaussian beams these interrelations associate beam orbital and spin angular momenta. Analytic description confirmed by numerical simulations is given for transmission of two types of beams: Hermite-Gaussians of linear polarization and LagueffeGaussians of circular polarization.

refraction, reflection, cross-polarization, elegant Hermite-Gaussian and Laguerre-Gaussian beams