Optical computation of the divergence operator upon reflection of a vecto r beam from a layered metal-dielectric structure

The optical computation of the divergence operator for a two-dimensional vector field representing the transverse components of the electric field of an incident light beam using a layered structure is theoretically described. A four-layer metal-dielectric structure on a metal substrate is proposed as an example of a layered structure computing this operator in reflection. The presented results of numerical simulation of the designed layered structure show the computation of the divergence operator with high quality and demonstrate the possibility of using the structure to analyze polarization singularities of vector beams.