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Journal of Modern Optics

On the quantum core of an optical vortex

Stephen Mark Barnett

Published Jul 23, 2008• 17 citations
Publisher

Abstract

An optical vortex is a line around which the phase increases by an integer multiple of 2π. It follows that the phase on the line itself is undefined and hence the field must have zero amplitude there. Berry and Dennis have suggested that this line of darkness is smoothed by a ‘quantum core’ with a radius proportional to ħ1/2 and have illustrated this idea by considering the competition between stimulated and spontaneous emission by an excited atom placed in the vicinity of the vortex. We show here that a similar phenomenon may be seen in absorption when the quantum state of motion of the absorbing atom is taken into consideration. There is, however, an underlying quantum singularity in which the absorption events for an atom centred on the vortex core can take place only if accompanied by a transfer of angular momentum to the atomic motion. The nature of this singularity relies on the evolution of an entangled state between the electronic and motional degrees of freedom of the trapped atom. We comment briefly on the effects of field quantisation on this quantum core of the optical vortex.

DOI
10.1080/09500340802082442

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An optical vortex is a line around which the phase increases by an integer multiple of 2π. It follows that the phase on the line itself is undefined and hence the field must have zero amplitude there. Berry and Dennis have suggested that this line of darkness is smoothed by a ‘quantum core’ with a radius proportional to ħ1/2 and have illustrated this idea by considering the competition between stimulated and spontaneous emission by an excited atom placed in the vicinity of the vortex. We show here that a similar phenomenon may be seen in absorption when the quantum state of motion of the absorbing atom is taken into consideration. There is, however, an underlying quantum singularity in which the absorption events for an atom centred on the vortex core can take place only if accompanied by a transfer of angular momentum to the atomic motion. The nature of this singularity relies on the evolution of an entangled state between the electronic and motional degrees of freedom of the trapped atom. We comment briefly on the effects of field quantisation on this quantum core of the optical vortex.
Optical vortices are points of zero intensity in a two dimensional, classical optical field. As first discussed by Berry and Dennis [Berry, M. V. and Dennis, M. R., "Quantum cores of optical phase singularities" Journal of Optics A 6, S178-S180 (2004)] these singularities are replaced by 'quantum cores' in a deeper level of description. In a fully quantized theory of optical fields an excited atom trapped at the singularity can emit light spontaneously and hence soften the perfect zero of an optical vortex. More recently Barnett [Barnett, S. M., "On the quantum cores of a optical vortex," Journal of Modern Optics 55, 2279-2292 (2008)] presented a more realistic analysis of quantum cores which accounts for the effect of the trapping potential on the transition dynamics inside a vortex core. Here, we revisit the scenario of emission near an optical vortex in the realistic setting of Barnett.
The nodal line singularities (optical vortices) of classical scalar optics are smoothed in quantum optics, because of spontaneous emission into unoccupied modes. The radius of the 'quantum core' surrounding each classical singularity is proportional to ??. A trapped excited atom, steered into a nodal line of the classical field, is a possible detector for the effect. Analogous phenomena are anticipated for other waves, for example sound, where the silence at a nodal line is disturbed by pressure fluctuations of the fluid molecules.
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.
Resonant optical absorption spontaneous emission of photons by quasiparticles inside of a vortex core in type-II superconductors results in a net momentum transfer to the vortex (scattering force). Similar to the case of atomic physics (laser cooling), this scattering force is quantum in nature, nonlinear in the vector potential of the photon, and can be used to cool or heat vortices. To illustrate this cooling or heating effect we calculate the total dissipation as a function of photon frequency in the presence of the scattering force.
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.
Recent experiments involving the interaction of optical vortices with atoms in quadrupole transitions have shown it to be accompanied by the exchange of orbital angular momentum (OAM) between the electronic states of the atom and the optical vortex field. Earlier work, both theoretical and experimental, had ruled out the transfer of a vortex OAM to the electronic degrees of freedom in an electric dipole atomic transition and it has been confirmed that the lowest multipolar order involving an OAM transfer to the electronic motion is indeed the electric quadrupole. Hitherto, the quadrupole transition involving optical vortices has not been quantified and we thus set out to evaluate the absorption rate accompanied by an OAM transfer with reference to the $6^{2}S_{1/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5^{2}D_{5/2}$ in Cs when cesium atoms are subject to the field of a linearly polarized optical vortex. Our results assuming typical experimentally accessible parameters indicate that the absorption rate for moderate light intensities is lower than the quadrupole spontaneous emission rate but should still be within the measurement capabilities of modern spectroscopic techniques.