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Physical Review A

Coherent transfer of orbital angular momentum from an atomic system to a light field

Daisuke Akamatsu, Mikio Kozuma

Published Feb 6, 2003• 43 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We generated orbital angular momentum in atoms with a spin degree of freedom and coherently transferred it to a light field, which resulted in the generation of a Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beam. In this method, atoms obtain orbital angular momentum through Larmor precession around the quadrupole field. Successive operations of quadrupole and homogeneous magnetic fields lead to a change of sign in the LG beam or even generation of superposition states of the LG beam with different indexes in real time. Possible applications to control orbital angular momentum of arbitrary photons are also discussed.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.67.023803

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We generated orbital angular momentum in atoms with a spin degree of freedom and coherently transferred it to a light field, which resulted in the generation of a Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beam. In this method, atoms obtain orbital angular momentum through Larmor precession around the quadrupole field. Successive operations of quadrupole and homogeneous magnetic fields lead to a change of sign in the LG beam or even generation of superposition states of the LG beam with different indexes in real time. Possible applications to control orbital angular momentum of arbitrary photons are also discussed.
The exchange of orbital angular momentum between a Laguerre-Gaussian beam of light and the center-of-mass motion of an atom or molecule is well known. We show that the orbital angular momentum of light can also be transferred to the internal electronic or rotational motion of an atom or a molecule provided the internal and center-of-mass motions are coupled. However, this transfer does not happen directly to the internal motion, but via center-of-mass motion. If atoms or molecules are cooled down to the recoil limit, then an exchange of angular momentum between the quantized center-of-mass motion and the internal motion is possible during the interaction of cold atoms or molecules with the Laguerre-Gaussian beam. The orientation of the exchanged angular momentum is determined by the sign of the winding number of the Laguerre-Gaussian beam. We present selective results of numerical calculations for the quadrupole transition rates in the interaction of the Laguerre-Gaussian beam with an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate to illustrate the underlying mechanism of light orbital angular momentum transfer. We discuss how the alignment of diatomic molecules will facilitate exploration of the effects of light orbital angular momentum on the electronic motion of molecules.
We demonstrate the coherent transfer of the orbital angular momentum of a photon to an atom in quantized units of variant Planck's over 2pi, using a 2-photon stimulated Raman process with Laguerre-Gaussian beams to generate an atomic vortex state in a Bose-Einstein condensate of sodium atoms. We show that the process is coherent by creating superpositions of different vortex states, where the relative phase between the states is determined by the relative phases of the optical fields. Furthermore, we create vortices of charge 2 by transferring to each atom the orbital angular momentum of two photons.
We propose a scheme to map atoms via the coherence superpositions of orbital angular momentum (OAM) light. The atoms are prepared in the four-level tripod configuration in the presence of a vortex light, which coherently superposes two Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beam modes with equal but opposite OAM. Because of the spatially dependent atom-field interaction, the information about the position of the atom can be obtained via the absorption measurement of the weak probe field. It is found that the absorption behavior is significantly impacted by the detuning, control field, azimuthal number, and radial number. Most importantly, atomic mapping accuracy can be controlled by properly adjusting the detunings and control field. The coherent interaction of OAM light with atoms constitutes a platform for active mapping of atoms at specific positions in azimuthal space.
A theory is developed that leads to the description of the internal and gross motions of an atom interacting with an arbitrary light field. The general results are then applied to the case of a Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) mode, one of a class of modes of electromagnetic radiation that possess orbital angular momentum. A number of effects are predicted, notably, an azimuthal shift in the atomic resonance, a modified radiation pressure force, and an associated torque on the atom. It is pointed out that the effects originate in the processes of the transfer of linear and orbital angular momentum from the field to the atomic gross motion. The strengths of the effects are assessed in relation to the normal axial Doppler shift and the linear light pressure force. The motion of atoms and ions subject to the LG pressure force is studied by solving the classical equation of motion. Trajectories clearly exhibiting the effects of orbital angular momentum are displayed for a free atom and for an ion in a two-dimensional trap and in a Paul trap.
The microwave-induced orbital angular momentum (OAM) transfer from a Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beam to a weak plane-wave is studied in a closed-loop four-level ladder-type atomic system. The analytical investigation shows that the generated fourth field is an LG beam with the same OAM of the applied LG field. Moreover, the microwave-induced subluminal generated pulse can be switched to the superluminal one only by changing the relative phase of applied fields. It is shown that the OAM transfer in subluminal regime is accompanied by a slightly absorption, however, it switches to the slightly gain in superluminal regime. The transfer of light's OAM and control of the group velocity of the generated pulse can prepare a high-dimensional Hilbert space which has a major role in quantum communication and information processing.