Abstract
A stressed fiber-optic waveguide is used to impart orbital angular momentum to a Hermite–Gaussian (HG10) laser mode. The transmitted beam has an annular intensity profile and a well-defined azimuthal phase dependence. We confirm the phase structure of the beam by observing the interference pattern produced between it and a plane wave. The transfer of the angular momentum to the light occurs because of a difference in phase velocity within the fiber for two orthogonal modes that comprise the input beam. This represents a mechanism for the transfer of orbital angular momentum to a light beam that has not hitherto been identified.
© 1998 Optical Society of America
Full Article | PDF ArticleMore Like This
Amanda J Wright, John M Girkin, Graham M Gibson, Jonathan Leach, and Miles J Padgett
Opt. Express 16(13) 9495-9500 (2008)
Karen Volke-Sepúlveda, Sabino Chávez-Cerda, Veneranda Garcés-Chávez, and Kishan Dholakia
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 21(10) 1749-1757 (2004)
N. B. Simpson, K. Dholakia, L. Allen, and M. J. Padgett
Opt. Lett. 22(1) 52-54 (1997)