Experimental generation and characterization of Devil's vortex-lenses

We propose the first experimental approach for both generation and characterization of high quality Devil’s vortex-lenses. These new type of lenses, able to produce a sequence of optical vortices, are addressed onto a programmable spatial light modulator (SLM) operating in phase-only modulation. The static aberrations arising by the lack of flatness of the SLM display are characterized and mostly compensated by using a Shack–Hartmann wavefront sensor. The analysis of the residual aberrations and their effect on the vortex-lens performance are studied.