Generation of complex beams by means of polarization holograms

In this paper we present the experimental generation of complex beams by means of a polarization holographic technique. The interference of a reference Gaussian beam and a complex beam having opposite circular polarization states, stored on a highly polarization sensitive material, generates polarization holograms whose diffracted beams are high quality complex fields. The technique is tested with the generation of three different types of beams: a simple vortex, a Bessel and a Laguerre-Gaussian beam. This suggests an alternative method for the generation of complex beams with predetermined polarization states.