Generation and nonlinear propagation of optical vortices in nematic liquid crystals

Optical vortices are of particular interest due to their numerous applications resulting from their orbital angular momentum. In this work a system for forming optical vortex beams based on the properties of nematic liquid crystals will be presented. It allows for the creation of vortices with different polarizations and different vortex charge, controlled by an electric field. Additionally, results showing nonlinear self-focusing of the vortex leading to diffraction compensation will be presented. Both reorientation nonlinearity and self-focusing thermal nonlinearity were used to create a self-trapped optical vortex propagating at a distance of the order of mm.