Orbital angular momentum generation method based on transformation electromagnetics

Orbital angular momentum (OAM) vortex waves generated by conventional spiral phase plates and metasurfaces have been widely discussed. In this work, we propose an innovative OAM generation method based on transformation optics (TO). By solving Laplace's equation with specific boundary conditions, an oblate cylindrical shaped physical domain is designed to imitate a gradient shaped virtual domain which is able to generate a vortex beam upon reflection. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, a broadband all-dielectric microwave lens for vortex beam generation is presented with a topological charge of + 1. The corresponding far-field patterns as well as near-field helical phase and doughnut-shaped amplitude distributions of the lens, obtained from numerical simulations, are reported along with a wide operational bandwidth spanning from 8 to 16 GHz. As a transformation method, the proposed TO technique provides an effective way to realize a conversion from plane waves to vortex waves, which can greatly facilitate the potential implementation of OAM waves in microwave wireless communication systems. (C) 2018 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement