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arXiv:2511.17406 · Physical Review A

Spin-orbit coupling of optical vector vortices in coherently prepared media

Dharma P. Permana, Mazena Mackoit Sinkevičienė, Julius Ruseckas, Hamid R. Hamedi

quant-phSubmitted Nov 21, 2025• Announced Nov 24, 2025• 3 citations
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Abstract

We investigate the propagation of an optical vector vortex weakly interacting with a coherently prepared atomic medium (phaseonium) in a three-level $Λ$ configuration. The vector beam consists of vortex pulse pairs with right- and left-circular polarizations, corresponding to opposite spin angular momentum (SAM), and carrying opposite orbital angular momentum (OAM) charges $\pm l$. We show that during the propagation of the vortex pairs, analytically obtained in the linear regime, the medium inherits the topology of the vortex pair, mapping the OAM onto a spatially structured atomic coherence. This mapping produces $2|l|-$fold azimuthal transparency structures that reshape the beam intensity from a ring into a petal-like pattern. The OAM-structured atomic coherence induces a corresponding optical anisotropy within the medium, which feeds back into the propagating vector beam, resulting in optical spin-orbit coupling manifested as SAM exchange, rotation, and evolution of polarization textures. Depending on the initial ground-state population of the phaseonium, the polarization state evolves between left-circular, linear, and right-circular polarizations.

Journal reference
Phys. Rev. A 113, 043705 (2026)
DOI
10.1103/trtn-m1tw

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We investigate the propagation of an optical vector vortex weakly interacting with a coherently prepared atomic medium (phaseonium) in a three-level ΛΛΛ configuration. The vector beam consists of vortex pulse pairs with right- and left-circular polarizations, corresponding to opposite spin angular momentum (SAM), and carrying opposite orbital angular momentum (OAM) charges ±l\pm l±l. We show that during the propagation of the vortex pairs, analytically obtained in the linear regime, the medium inherits the topology of the vortex pair, mapping the OAM onto a spatially structured atomic coherence. This mapping produces 2∣l∣−2|l|-2∣l∣−fold azimuthal transparency structures that reshape the beam intensity from a ring into a petal-like pattern. The OAM-structured atomic coherence induces a corresponding optical anisotropy within the medium, which feeds back into the propagating vector beam, resulting in optical spin-orbit coupling manifested as SAM exchange, rotation, and evolution of polarization textures. Depending on the initial ground-state population of the phaseonium, the polarization state evolves between left-circular, linear, and right-circular polarizations.
We investigate the propagation of optical vector vortices of slow light in a coherently prepared four-level tripod atomic system. The vector vortex consists of superposed pulse pairs with opposite circular polarizations and orbital angular momentum (OAM) charges ±l\pm l±l, weakly interacting with an atomic medium initially prepared in a coherent superposition of two ground states. A third unoccupied state is coupled to a stronger control laser without OAM, creating a phase-dependent configuration. In the linear regime, the vortex OAM is mapped onto the medium, producing symmetrical azimuthally structured absorption patterns, with losses significantly reduced by the control field. For small detunings, complementary spatially dependent amplification and absorption occur for the two circular polarization components. This OAM-structured coherence induces a dynamical anisotropy, affecting both the intensity and polarization of the slow-light vortex. Polarization states evolve periodically between left-circular, linear, and right-circular polarizations during propagation. Once the beam reaches a stationary regime, the ring-shaped intensity transforms into a petal-like structure, and the final polarization states stabilize according to the initial superposition. The rate of polarization transitions is tunable via the control field strength, demonstrating flexible control over slow-light vector vortex dynamics.
We investigate the propagation of an optical vector vortex beam in an atomic medium featuring four-level tripod transitions, where ground-state coherence is mediated by a transverse magnetic field. The vector beam consists of left- and right-circularly polarized components, each carrying an optical vortex with opposite orbital angular momentum (OAM). We study the linear response of the medium to the vector beam in order to determine the evolution of the beam's intensity and polarization profile. We find that the beam structure undergoes significant transformations as it propagates: the transverse intensity evolves from a ring-shaped profile to a petal-like structure, while the polarization transitions between left-circular, linear, and right-circular polarizations. Furthermore, when only the right-circular polarization component (a scalar vortex) enters the medium, it parametrically generates a left-circular polarization component, transferring its OAM to the generated field. This process converts the initial vortex beam into a superposition of left- and right-circular components, forming a scalar vortex beam where both polarization components carry the same OAM.
We consider transfer of optical vortices between laser pulses carrying orbital angular momentum in a cloud of cold atoms characterized by the $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ configuration of the atom-light coupling. The atoms are initially prepared in a coherent superposition of the lower levels, creating a so-called phaseonium medium. If a single vortex beam initially acts on one transition of the scheme, an extra laser beam is subsequently generated with the same vorticity as that of the incident vortex beam. The absorption of the incident probe beam takes place mostly at the beginning of the atomic medium within the absorption length. The losses disappear as the probe beam propagates deeper into the medium where the atoms are transferred to their dark states. The method is extended to a tripod atom-light coupling scheme and a more general (n+1n+1n+1)-level scheme containing nnn ground states and one excited state, allowing for creation of multiple twisted light beams. We also analyze generation of composite optical vortices in the scheme using a superposition of two initial vortex beams and study lossless propagation of such composite vortices.
We investigate the generation of optical torque in coherently prepared multi-level atomic media driven by a vector vortex beam composed of two counter-rotating components carrying opposite orbital angular momenta, +lℏ+l\hbar+lℏ and −lℏ-l\hbar−lℏ. We consider a three-level ΛΛΛ configuration and a four-level tripod configuration. Using a perturbative steady-state solution of the optical Bloch equations, we obtain analytical expressions for both linear and nonlinear contributions to the optical torque. The results show that the torque is strongly controlled by atomic coherence, including the initial population imbalance and the relative phase between the vortex components. Nonvanishing torque can arise even when the two components have equal amplitudes, due to coherence-induced asymmetry in the atomic response. In the tripod configuration, the presence of a strong control field leads to electromagnetically induced transparency, which suppresses the torque near resonance and shifts the dominant response to finite detunings. These results establish a route for controlling light-induced rotational dynamics in atomic media using vector vortex fields, with potential applications in coherent optical manipulation and angular-momentum-based control in quantum systems.
We consider the optical rotation of the polarization of a linearly polarized probe field passing through an M-type atomic system by using the interaction between two vortex control fields and optical transitions. We investigate theoretically to generate the spatially dependent structured light with the atoms acting as a spatially varying circular birefringent medium. We show that the polarization and intensity distributions of the vector beam spatially vary by changing the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of the vortex control field.
The noise-induced coherence created via the quantum interference of incoherent radiation in atomic three-level systems of V and \ensuremath{\Lambda} types driven by a pair of weak laser pulses is shown to result in exchange of optical vortices. In the three- level V-type atom-light coupling the system is populated in its ground level, while in the \ensuremath{\Lambda} model the system is initially prepared in an electromagnetically induced transparency state. By solving the quantum optical Maxwell-Bloch equations and with quantum interference of incoherent radiation present, we show that the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of the vortex probe beam can be transferred to a generated signal field. While the exchange efficiency in the V configuration is higher, the losses are less in the \ensuremath{\Lambda} scheme when we consider such a noise-induced coherence. We further discuss the effects of phase mismatching and inhomogeneous broadening on the energy conversion between light beams carrying OAM.