Generation and interferometric analysis of high charge optical vortices

We report on the generation of optical vortex beams using spatial phase modulation with spiral phase mirrors. The spiral phase mirrors are manufactured by direct machining with an ultra-precision single point diamond turning lathe. The imperfection of the machined phase mirrors and its impact on the generated vortex beams are analyzed with interferometric measurements. Our phase mirror has a surface roughness of 3 nm and a maximum peak-valley deviation of lambda/30. The vortex charges of our light beams are directly verified by counting the fringes of their corresponding interferograms. We directly observed the successful generation of an optical vortex beam with a charge as high as 5050. We study the Fourier images of the vortex beams to characterize the quality of the beams. We obtained a conversion efficiency of 92.8% from a TEM00 beam to a vortex beam with charge 1020. This technique of generating optical singularities can potentially be used to produce more complex optical wavefronts, such as optical knots.