The focus of light—linear polarization breaks the rotational symmetry of the focal spot

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate for the first time that a linearly polarized beam is focused to an asymmetric spot when using a high-numerical aperture focusing system. This asymmetry was predicted by Richards and Wolf in 1959 and can only be measured when a polarization-insensitive sensor is placed in the focal region. We used a specially modified photodiode in a knife-edge-type set-up to obtain highly resolved images of the total electric energy density distribution at the focus. The results are in good agreement with the predictions of a vectorial focusing theory.