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Controlling And Correcting Optical Vortex Tilt

Optical vortices have been extensively studied, but there is no current research on controlled tilted vortices. This gap in research leads to a misunderstanding of how to fully control vortices and use them effectively for further research. To conduct this experiment, I directed a laser beam through a spatial light modulator and generated computer holograms of tilted vortices to be placed in the beam, then tilted the camera used for imaging in accordance with the tilt of the vortices. I took images of the vortices with varied camera tilts, and converted them to quantitative data using image analysis techniques in Mathematica. Tilting the camera changed the eccentricity of the elliptical-shaped tilted vortices, but did not correct the tilt and yield a circular vortex as expected. Future research on the plane and orientation in which vortices are tilted should be conducted to further explore the true meaning of vortex tilt.

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