This paper presents an efficient method to generate high-order Bessel–Gauss beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) by using a thin and compact optical element such as a multilevel spiral axicon. This approach represents an excellent alternative for diffraction-free OAM beam generation instead of complex methods based on a doublet formed by a physical spiral phase plate and zero-order axicon, phase holograms loaded on spatial light modulators (SLMs), or the interferometric method. Here, we present the fabrication process for axicons with 16 and 32 levels, characterized by high mode conversion efficiency and good transmission for visible light (λ = 633 nm wavelength). The Bessel vortex states generated with the proposed diffractive optical elements (DOEs) can be exploited as a very useful resource for optical and quantum communication in free-space channels or in optical fibers.

This study investigates the change in both the angular position and width of the reflectance minimum of an SPR sensor in the Kretschmann configuration when optical vortices instead of plane waves are used for illumination. An analytical expression of the reflectance is obtained for incident Laguerre–Gaussian beams, considering only the first-order approximation of the Fresnel reflection coefficient in a Taylor series. Numerical simulations reveal that the detection performance of SPR sensors is practically unaffected if optical vortices of this type are used as sources, even if the topological charges of the vortices are quite large. On the other hand, the use of optical vortices in SPR sensors could be very advantageous for positioning and manipulating analyte molecules on the surface of the sensor.