Open AccessCharacterization of topological charge and orbital angular momentum of shaped optical vortices
Author(s) -
Anderson M. Amaral,
Edílson L. Falcão-Filho,
Cid B. de Araújo
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.22.030315
Subject(s) - optical vortex , angular momentum , topological quantum number , physics , optical tweezers , optics , vortex , characterization (materials science) , light beam , orbital angular momentum of light , charge (physics) , topology (electrical circuits) , plasmon , angular momentum of light , classical mechanics , total angular momentum quantum number , quantum mechanics , angular momentum coupling , mathematics , combinatorics , thermodynamics
Optical vortices (OV) are usually associated to cylindrically symmetric light beams. However, they can have more general geometries that extends their applicability. Since the typical experimental characterization methods are not appropriate for OV with arbitrary shapes, we discuss in this work how the definitions of the classical orbital angular momentum and the topological charge can be used to retrieve these informations in the general case. The concepts discussed are experimentally demonstrated and may be specially useful in areas such as optical tweezers and plasmonics.