Abstract
We use a Laguerre-Gaussian laser mode within an optical tweezers arrangement to demonstrate the transfer of the orbital angular momentum of a laser mode to a trapped particle. The particle is optically confined in three dimensions and can be made to rotate; thus the apparatus is an optical spanner. We show that the spin angular momentum of ±h per photon associated with circularly polarized light can add to, or subtract from, the orbital angular momentum to give a total angular momentum. The observed cancellation of the spin and orbital angular momentum shows that, as predicted, a Laguerre-Gaussian mode with an azimuthal mode index 1 = 1 has a well-defined orbital angular momentum corresponding to h per photon.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Optical Angular Momentum |
Publisher | CRC Press |
Pages | 207-209 |
Number of pages | 3 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781482269017 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780750309011 |
Publication status | Published - 2016 Apr 19 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2003 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General Engineering
- General Physics and Astronomy