Single-shot characterization of vector beams by generalized measurements

Vector vortex beams, featuring independent spatial modes in orthogonal polarization components, offer an increase in information density for emerging applications in both classical and quantum communication technology. Recent advances in optical instrumentation have led to the ability of generating and manipulating such beams. Their tomography is generally accomplished by projection measurements to identify polarization as well as spatial modes. In this paper we demonstrate spatially resolved generalized measurements of arbitrary vector vortex beams. We perform positive operator valued measurements (POVMs) in an interferometric setup that characterizes the vector light mode in a single-shot. This offers superior data acquisition speed compared to conventional Stokes tomography techniques, with potential benefits for communication protocols as well as dynamic polarization microscopy of materials. Published by Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.