Making an optical vortex and its copies using a single spatial light modulator

We demonstrate a technique for making copies of optical vortices with the same topological charge using a single spatial light modulator. It has been shown that by using suitable diffractive optical elements, several copies of optical vortices with the same topological charge could be created. We have devised diffractive optical elements using a single spatial light modulator which could be used to make a vortex and its copies without inverting the charge. The nature of the topological charge was investigated with the interferometric technique. The experimental results are verified with the theoretical analysis. We anticipate that our results may find applications ranging from optical manipulation to quantum information.