Reflective optical vortex generators with ultrabroadband self-phase compensation

The explosive growth of information urgently requires extending the capacity of optical communication and information processing. Orbital-angular-momentum-based mode division multiplexing (MDM) is recognized as the most promising technique to improve the bandwidth of a single fiber. To make it compatible with the dominant wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), broadband equal high-efficient phase encoding is highly pursued. Here, we propose a twisted-liquid-crystal and rear-mirror-based design for ultrabroadband reflective planar optics. The backtracking of the light inside the twisted birefringent medium leads to an achromatic phase modulation. With this design, a single-twisted reflective q-plate is demonstrated to convert a white beam to a polychromatic optical vortex. Jones calculus and vector beam characterization are carried out to analyze the broadband phase compensation. A dual-twisted configuration further extends the working band to over 600 nm. It supplies an ultrabroadband and reflective solution for the WDM/MDM-compatible elements and may significantly promote advances in ultrabroadband planar optics.