Longitudinal field characterization of converging terahertz vortices with linear and circular polarizations.

Linearly and circularly polarized terahertz (THz) vortex beams are generated by adopting a THz quarter wave plate and spiral phase plates with topological charges 1 and 2. Taking advantage of a THz digital holographic imaging system, longitudinal components of THz vortices with different polarizations and topological charges are coherently measured and systemically analyzed in a focusing condition. The application potential of circularly polarized THz vortex beams in microscopy is experimentally demonstrated and the transformation between the spin angular momentums and orbital angular momentums of THz waves is also checked. Modified Richards-Wolf vector diffraction integration equations are applied to successfully simulate experimental phenomena.