Direct observation of the transfer of orbital angular momentum to metal particles from a focused circularly polarized Gaussian beam
Open accessAbstract
It is well known that a circularly polarized Gaussian beam carries spin angular momentum, but not orbital angular momentum. This paper demonstrates that focusing a beam carrying spin angular momentum can induce an orbital angular momentum which we used to drive the orbital motion of a micron-sized metal particle that is trapped off the beam axis. The direction of the orbital motion is controlled by the handedness of the circular polarization. The orbiting dynamics of the trapped particle, which acted as an optical micro-detector, were quantitatively measured and found to be in excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions.
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Since both focusing and scattering produce strong SOI, these phenomena play an important role in high-resolution optical microscopy and imaging of scattering processes.
“Since both focusing and scattering produce strong SOI, these phenomena play an important role in high-resolution optical microscopy and imaging of scattering processes 31,109 .”
From Spin–orbit interactions of light (2015) · cites this paper as [109]
Superposition of the original σ-polarized state and the converted (-σ)-polarized state with the exp(2iσφ) vortex generates characteristic 'four-petal' patterns in the first and second Stokes parameters S1 and S2; this effect was observed in diffusive backscattering from microparticle suspensions, scattering by liquid-crystal droplets, and dipole nanoparticle scattering.
“Superposition of the original σ -polarized state and the converted ( -σ )-polarized state with the exp 2 i σφ ( ) vortex generates characteristic 'four-petal' patterns in the first and second Stokes parameters S 1 and S 2 , Fig. 2e. This effect was observed in systems of different nature and scales: diffusive backscattering from microparticle suspensions 109- 111 , scattering by”
From Spin–orbit interactions of light (2015) · cites this paper as [109]
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Spin–orbit interactions of light
Bliokh, K. Y., Rodríguez-Fortuño, F. J., Nori, F., & Zayats, A. V. (2015) · Nature Photonics · doi:10.1038/nphoton.2015.201 · Cited by 2,276 · see citing works
Spin-to-orbital angular momentum conversion in focusing, scattering, and imaging systems
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Spin-orbit interactions of light in isotropic media
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Spin-orbit interactions of light
Bliokh, K. Y., Rodriguez-Fortuno, F. J., Nori, F., & Zayats, A. V. (2015) · arXiv
- Authors
- Zhao, Y., Shapiro, D., Mcgloin, D., Chiu, D. T., & Marchesini, S.
- Affiliations
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US)
- University of Dundee (GB)
- University of Washington (US)
- Venue
- Optics Express
- Publisher
- Optica Publishing Group
- Published
- 2009-12-04
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 25
- Pages
- 23316
- ISSN
- 1094-4087 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2007548692
- Cited by
- 88
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 1.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Optics Express (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Discovery Research Portal (University of Dundee) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics › Orbital Angular Momentum in Optics
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials › Metamaterials and Metasurfaces Applications
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics › Digital Holography and Microscopy
- Keywords
- orbital angular momentum, spin angular momentum, circularly polarized light, Gaussian beam, focused beams, metal particles, optical trapping, orbital motion, polarization handedness, orbital dynamics
- MeSH terms
- Energy Transfer, Light, Metals, Refractometry, Scattering, Radiation, Normal Distribution, Optical Tweezers
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