The linear Doppler effect has been widely used to detect the translational motion of objects. However, it suffers difficulties in measuring the angular motion of a rotating target. In recent years, the rotational Doppler effect based on a vortex beam has been helpful to solve the problem of rotational measurement and has attracted extensive attention in remote sensing. This paper expounds the theoretical and experimental basis of the rotational Doppler effect and briefly summarizes its development for the detection of macro and micro targets. Specifically, the properties and analysis methods of a rotational Doppler shift when the vortex beam is misaligned with the rotation axis are described in detail. In addition, the existing problems and further developments in rotation detection based on the rotational Doppler effect are discussed.
The vector optical beam with longitudinally varying polarization during propagation in free space has attracted significant attention in recent years. Compared with traditional vector optical beams with inhomogeneous distribution of polarization in the transverse plane, manipulating the longitudinal distribution of polarization provides a new dimension for the expansion of the applications of vector optical beams in volume laser machining, longitudinal detection, and in vivo micromanipulation. Two theoretical strategies for achieving this unique optical beam are presented in the way of constructing the longitudinally varying phase difference and amplitude difference. Relevant generation methods are reviewed which can be divided into the modulation of complex amplitude in real space and the filtering of the spatial spectrum. In addition, current problems and prospects for vector optical beams with longitudinally varying polarization are discussed.
As an intrinsic property of light, angular momentum has always been an important research object of light field. In the past few years, the interactions between spin angular momentum and orbital angular momentum in tightly focused structured light have attracted much attention. Different from the independent conservation in the paraxial condition, the polarization-dependent spin angular momentum and the phase-dependent orbital angular momentum are coupled under tight focusing condition based on different physical mechanisms. The research on spin-orbit interaction will be helpful to deeply understand the nature of photon as well as extend the applications of light. Here, different forms of spin-orbit interaction during the tight focusing of structured light have been briefly introduced and classified. Besides, the existing problems and development prospects in the research about spin-orbit interaction of light are discussed, including the quantitative detection of the local distribution of optical spin and orbital angular momentum in experiments and the further applications of spin-orbit interaction.
As an inherent feature of vector optical field, the spatial distribution of polarization brings additional degrees of freedom to engineer the optical field and control the interaction between light and matters. Here we focus on the variation of polarization in single vector optical field, which can be defined by the trajectory on the Poincaré sphere. Based on the amplitude-phase-polarization joint modulation method we propose, vector optical field, whose variation of polarization follows arbitrary circular trajectory on the Poincaré sphere, can be generated. Moreover, the tightly focusing behaviors of the vector optical fields with the polarization varying along parallel circles on the Poincaré sphere are compared. Relations between the circular trajectory and the central intensity of the hollow focal field are concluded.
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