Spin-to-orbital angular momentum conversion in focusing, scattering, and imaging systems

Konstantin Y. Bliokh*, Elena A. Ostrovskaya, Miguel A. Alonso, Oscar G. Rodríguez-Herrera, David Lara, Chris Dainty

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    230 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    We present a general theory of spin-to-orbital angular momentum (AM) conversion of light in focusing, scattering, and imaging optical systems. Our theory employs universal geometric transformations of non-paraxial optical fields in such systems and allows for direct calculation and comparison of the AM conversion efficiency in different physical settings. Observations of the AM conversions using local intensity distributions and far-field polarimetric measurements are discussed.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)26132-26149
    Number of pages18
    JournalOptics Express
    Volume19
    Issue number27
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 19 Dec 2011

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