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International Conference on Optical Communications and Networks (ICOCN)

Dividing orbital angular momentum of light

Hailong Zhou, Jianji Dong, Jian Wang, Xinlun Cai, Siyuan Yu, Xinliang Zhang

Published Sep 1, 2016• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

For the first time, we put forward an orbital angular momentum (OAM) divider based on coordinate transformation. The device can convert the OAM light into multiple diffracted light. The OAM of zeroth-order diffracted light is the product of the input OAM and the scaling parameter. We also extend the scheme to realize equal N-dividing of OAM. The ability of dividing OAM shows huge potential for OAM-based classical and quantum information processing.

DOI
10.1109/icocn.2016.7875871

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For the first time, we put forward an orbital angular momentum (OAM) divider based on coordinate transformation. The device can convert the OAM light into multiple diffracted light. The OAM of zeroth-order diffracted light is the product of the input OAM and the scaling parameter. We also extend the scheme to realize equal N-dividing of OAM. The ability of dividing OAM shows huge potential for OAM-based classical and quantum information processing.
Manipulation of orbital angular momentum (OAM) of light is essential in OAM-based optical systems. In particular, the OAM divider, which can convert the incoming OAM mode into one or several new smaller modes in proportion at different spatial paths, is very useful in OAM-based optical networks. However, this useful tool has rarely been reported. Here, we put forward a passive OAM divider based on coordinate transformation. The device consists of a Cartesian to log-polar coordinate converter and an inverse converter. The first converter converts the OAM light into a rectangular-shaped plane light with a transverse phase gradient, and the second converter converts the plane light into multiple diffracted light. The OAM of zeroth-order diffracted light is the product of the input OAM and the scaling parameter. The residual light is the output from other diffracted orders. Furthermore, we extend the scheme to realize equal N-division of OAM and arbitrary division of OAM. The ability of dividing OAM shows huge potential for OAM-based classical and quantum information processing.
The orbital angular momentum of light (OAM) is a fundamental property of light. Beams with OAM have a helical wave front that carries quantized orbital angular momentum L hbar per photon, where L is any integer. This unbounded Hilbert space can increase information capacity of both classical and quantum communications and also improve and extend qubit and qudit quantum algorithms. Additionally, the use of the OAM modes allows for novel imaging techniques to directly observe and measure various topological properties of objects ranging from defects in semiconductors to rotating black holes and extrasolar planets. However, measuring such higher dimensional OAM states is fundamentally important, albeit challenging, in order to use this rich degree of freedom. In the work that follows, I present two novel OAM to time mapping schemes and an application using the higher dimensionality of OAM to non-destructively probe quantum states. These are the first OAM measuring schemes to use the temporal degree of freedom to measure OAM. The use of the novel loop nature allows for high fidelity and high speed measurements of a large number of OAM states without significant increase in experimental resources. The first scheme experimentally demonstrates a compact and practical device to measure the OAM spectrum. I report a fidelity of -21.3 dB for 5 different OAM states. The second scheme extends the first, but uses non-demolition measurements to iteratively test for specific OAM values. While this increases experimental complexity, it allows for the detection of an arbitrarily large OAM value from a single photon. I also discuss details of each technique investigate the affects of misalignment on the OAM spectrum. In the remaining part, I discuss my novel generalized quantum Zeno interrogation. The original quantum Zeno interrogation is limited to the two-dimensional state of a single object; while the generalized version has the ability to non-destructively probe the quantum state a set of objects, and deterministically imprint that information onto a single photon using the OAM degree of freedom.
Photons are an ideal candidate for encoding both classical and quantum information. Besides spin angular momentum associated with circular polarization, single photon can also carry other fundamentally new degree of freedom of orbital angular momentum related to the spiral phase structure of light. The key significance of orbital angular momentum lies in its potential in realizing a high-dimensional Hilbert space and in encoding a high-dimensional quantum information. Since Allen et al. [Allen L, Beijersbergen M W, Spreeuw R J C, Woerdman J P 1992 Phys. Rev. A 45 8185] recognized the physical reality of photon orbital angular momentum in 1992, rapidly growing interest has been aroused in orbital angular momentum (OAM) from both classical and quantum points of view. Here we present an overall review on the high-order orbital angular momentum of photon, including its preparation and manipulation based on some specific techniques and also its applications. The spatial light modulator is a commercial device that has been widely employed to generate the OAM beams. We make and identify the optical OAM superposition with very high quantum numbers up to l=360. Recently, the metallic spiral phase mirrors were also developed to produce high-order OAM beams up to l=5050. In addition, the Q-plates made of anisotropic and inhomogeneous liquid crystals were invented to generate high-order OAM beams in a polarization-controllable manner, and the OAM superposition of l=± 50 were achieved. Owing to high rotational symmetry, these high OAM beams have been found to have more and more important applications in the fields of high-sensitivity sensing and high-precision measurements. Two fascinating examples are discussed in detail. The first example is that the research group led by Prof. Zeilinger has prepared and observed the quantum entanglement of high orbital angular momenta up to l=±300 by the technique of polarization-OAM entanglement swapping, and they demonstrated that the angular resolution could be significantly improved by a factor of l. Their result was the first step for entangling and twisting even macroscopic, spatially separated objects in two different directions. The second example is that the research group led by Prof. Padgett has demonstrated an elegant experiment of rotational Doppler effects for visible light with l=±20 OAM superposition. They showed that a spinning object with an optically rough surface might induce a Doppler effect in light reflected from the direction parallel to the rotation axis, and the frequency shift was proportional to both the disk's angular speed and the optical OAM. The potential applications in noncontact measurement of angular speed and in significant improvement of angular resolution for remote sensing will be particularly fascinating.
The beam with orbital angular momentum is a present domestic and foreign research key direction. Its application and development will bring the profound influence in the optical communications field. At the same time, light's orbital angular momentum promises potential applications in both classical and quantum optical communication. The research progress of the beam with orbital angular momentum and encoding information as light's OAM for free-space optical communication were reviewed in this article, the existing design method, mechanism and description methods of encoding information as light's OAM were discussed. In quantum communication, qudits can be encoded in photons using their OAM for creating high-dimensional entanglement based on entangled photon pairs from SPDC. In this paper, light's OAM is used as information carrier for classical and quantum communication, which is promising to ensures the security of atmospheric laser communication, improves the density and precision of information transmission. It is apparent that an efficient way to measure the orbital angular momentum of individual photons and light beams with good efficiency would be of potentially great importance for optical communications and quantum information. In view of the above, the measurements of orbital angular momentum of individual photons and light beams are analyzed and discussed in detail.
The creation and detection of light carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) has been studied over the past 30 years. Recently, efforts have been made to efficiently generate multiple OAM components within a single beam, which has led to the generation of the first classical OAM combs. Here we present, to the best of our knowledge, the generation of the first quantum OAM combs utilizing the OAM correlations of a bi-photon state. The OAM correlations are tailored using binary phase gratings in order to achieve numerous OAM comb structures. These states could provide potential benefits when being applied in quantum sensing or high dimensional quantum encryption.