Screw dislocations of laser speckle fields in interferograms with a circular line structure

Experimental results are used to show that circular interferograms are of interest in studies of screw dislocations of speckle-distorted laser beams because of a close correspondence between the symmetry of these interferograms and defects. The presence of dislocations transforms a system of the usual rings into a split network. Typical structure elements of such interferograms are right- and left-handed spirals connecting singular points of dislocations. Spiral fragments can be used in the diagnostics of dislocations regarded as independent defects. A method is suggested for the formation of highly directed optical beams with a low level of the usual aberrations, but with a complex phase surface topology. Screw dislocations are shown to be a natural analog of helical waves known in optics and capable of deliberate generation.