Arbitrary three-dimensional polarization control based on cylindrical vector beams and binary phase coding.

To obtain an arbitrary polarization in three dimensions is of significant interest for many applications. Here, we demonstrate a configuration to achieve it. After phase coding by binary phase plates, two cylindrical polarized beams are superposed and focused by a high-numerical aperture lens to obtain transversally and radially polarized components in the focus vicinity. By adjusting their intensity and phase difference, the desired three-dimensional polarization can be achieved. The proportion of the desired polarization is extremely high and the focus spot is smaller than the diffraction-limited spot size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]