Light beams with multiple phase singularities, namely, optical vortex arrays (OVAs), can be generated via coherent superpositions of symmetric laser modes, e.g., the combination of a circular vortex beam and a Gaussian beam. Further, a non-trivial evolution of the singularity structure can be obtained when the system’s symmetry is broken. In this paper, we propose an asymmetric OVA (AOVA) with a highly tunable structure. The AOVA is generated by the coaxial superposition of a vortex beam and an elliptical Gaussian beam in the waist plane. After the interference of the two beams, the original high-order phase singularity residing on the beam axis breaks up into multiple ${+}{1}$ and ${-}{1}$ order vortices. The vortices are located at discrete azimuthal angles and different distances from the beam center. Unlike previous OVAs with annular shapes, the AOVA can present various singularity structures devoid of rotational symmetry, which are decided by the radii of the elliptical Gaussian beam and the topological charge of the vortex beam. Furthermore, we theoretically show that the number, sign, and distribution of local singularities can be modulated by defining two azimuthal discriminant functions. Numerical simulations and visualizations are also carried out. This work provides a new perspective for designs of connected OVAs and may find potential applications, especially in particle manipulation, optical communication, and optical metrology.

中文翻译：

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具有可调奇异分布的非对称光学涡旋阵列的产生

具有多个相位奇异点的光束，即光学涡旋阵列（OVA），可以通过对称激光模式的相干叠加（例如，圆形涡旋光束和高斯光束的组合）生成。此外，当系统的对称性被破坏时，可以获得奇异结构的非平凡的演变。在本文中，我们提出了具有高度可调结构的非对称OVA（AOVA）。AOVA是通过在腰部平面中涡旋光束和椭圆高斯光束的同轴叠加生成的。在两个光束干涉之后，光束轴上原始的高阶相位奇异性分解为多个$ {+} {1} $和$ {-} {1} $涡旋。涡流位于离散的方位角处，并且距波束中心的距离不同。与以前的环形OVA不同，AOVA可以呈现出没有旋转对称性的各种奇异结构，这些奇异结构由椭圆高斯光束的半径和涡旋光束的拓扑电荷决定。此外，我们从理论上表明，可以通过定义两个方位角判别函数来调制局部奇异点的数量，符号和分布。还进行了数值模拟和可视化。这项工作为连接的OVA的设计提供了新的视角，并可能发现潜在的应用，尤其是在粒子处理，光学通信和光学计量学方面。