Generation of a higher-order Poincare sphere beam array with spatial coherence engineering

We propose a protocol to synthesize a class of vector beam array in the far field with periodic higher-order Poincare sphere (HOPS) polarization states by engineering the second-order spatial coherence structure of a partially coherent light source. We show that the polarization state of a single HOPS beam at the source plane can be mapped into a beam array in the far field when the spatial coherence of the beam source is engineered to have a lattice-like distribu-tion. We demonstrate that the degree of polarization of the generated HOPS beam array can be conveniently controlled by modulating the transverse spatial coherence width of the source. Our method provides an additional way to construct the structured beam array and may find applications, e.g., in multiparticle manipulations.(c) 2022 Optica Publishing Group