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Applied Physics Letters

Single beam optical vortex tweezers with tunable orbital angular momentum

Mindaugas Gecevičius, Rokas Drevinskas, Martynas Beresna, Peter G. Kazansky

Published Jun 9, 2014• 161 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We propose a single beam method for generating optical vortices with tunable optical angular momentum without altering the intensity distribution. With the initial polarization state varying from linear to circular, we gradually control the torque transferred to the trapped non-absorbing and non-birefringent silica beads. The continuous transition from the maximum rotation speed to zero without changing the trapping potential gives a way to study the complex tribological interactions.

DOI
10.1063/1.4882418

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We propose a single beam method for generating optical vortices with tunable optical angular momentum without altering the intensity distribution. With the initial polarization state varying from linear to circular, we gradually control the torque transferred to the trapped non-absorbing and non-birefringent silica beads. The continuous transition from the maximum rotation speed to zero without changing the trapping potential gives a way to study the complex tribological interactions.
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.
Photons can carry angular momentum, not only due to their spin, but also due to their spatial structure. This extra twist has been used, for example, to drive circular motion of microscopic particles in optical tweezers as well as to create vortices in quantum gases. Here we excite an atomic transition with a vortex laser beam and demonstrate the transfer of optical orbital angular momentum to the valence electron of a single trapped ion. We observe strongly modified selection rules showing that an atom can absorb two quanta of angular momentum from a single photon: one from the spin and another from the spatial structure of the beam. Furthermore, we show that parasitic ac-Stark shifts from off-resonant transitions are suppressed in the dark centre of vortex beams. These results show how light's spatial structure can determine the characteristics of light-matter interaction and pave the way for its application and observation in other systems.
Photons carry one unit of angular momentum associated with their spin~\cite{Beth1936}. Structured vortex beams carry additional orbital angular momentum which can also be transferred to matter~\cite{Allen1992}. This extra twist has been used for example to drive motion of microscopic particles in optical tweezers as well as to create vortices in degenerate quantum gases~\cite{He1995,Andersen2006}. Here we demonstrate the transfer of optical orbital angular momentum from the transverse spatial structure of the beam to the internal (electronic) degrees of freedom of an atom. Probing a quadrupole transition of a single trapped 40^{40}40Ca+^++ ion localized at the center of the vortex, we observe strongly modified selection rules, accounting for both the photon spin and the vorticity of the field. In particular, we show that an atom can absorb two quanta of angular momentum from a single photon even when rotational symmetry is conserved. In contrast to previous findings~\cite{Araoka2005,Loeffler2011a,Mathevet2013}, our experiment allows for conditions where the vorticity of the laser beam determines the optical excitation, contributing to the long-standing discussion on whether the orbital angular momentum of photons can be transferred to atomic internal degrees of freedom~\cite{VanEnk1994,Babiker2002,Jauregui2004, Schmiegelow2012, Mondal2014, Scholz-Marggraf2014} and paves the way for its use to tailor light-matter interactions.
Singular optical beams have been studied for many years after the pioneering work where the wave function of the laser radiation is presented as a steady-state solution of the wave equation for a harmonic oscillator. A major step in understanding the nature of singular beams has been made by introducing the concept of the angular momentum of light and analyzing local energy transfer in a vortex beam. It is now well accepted that the orbital angular momentum of light is an intrinsic feature of the optical vortex. However, the orbital angular momentum was always analyzed for travelling modes and the important issue of the orbital angular momentum associated with standing waves still remains open. The main motivation of our work is to reveal the structure of the orbital angular momentum in a standing wave formed by the counter-propagating optical vortices and study its suitability for an optical trapping and guiding. In this work we show that a superposition of two (or more) vortex beams generates a field structure which has a form of a standing wave in both the radial and longitudinal directions, but it is rotating simultaneously along the tangential direction. We demonstrate that then field of this optical vortex structure could be used as an optical trap and simultaneously transfer the angular momentum of the electromagnetic wave to an object inside the area of vortex localisation. We believe this study provides a basis for developing a novel concept of three-dimensional optical traps where vortices could be created in a local volume by a direct transfer of the angular orbital momentum of the electromagnetic wave to trapped objects.
Light carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM)---known as vortex beams---has broadened the scope of understanding and applications of light's angular momentum. Optical tweezers using OAM, often referred to as optical spanners, have significantly expanded the tunability of optical manipulation. A key frontier now lies in understanding how vortex beams interact with quantum states of matter. In this work, we numerically investigate the dynamics of a superconductor under vortex beam illumination and demonstrate the transfer of angular momentum from light to the superconducting collective mode, resulting in mechanical rotation. Our findings open a pathway for optical manipulation in the quantum regime, which we term the quantum optical spanner.