Related papers: Angular momentum of focused beams: beyond the para…
A circularly polarized rotationally symmetric paraxial laser beams carries hbar angular momentum per photon as spin. Focussing the beam with a rotationally symmetric lens cannot change this angular momentum flux, yet the focussed beam must…
Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beam has orbital angular momentum (OAM). A particle trapped in an LG beam will rotate about the beam axis, due to the transfer of OAM. The rotation of the particle is usually in the same direction as that of the beam…
In light beams with circular or elliptic polarization, the transverse energy flow consists of the "spin" and "orbital" parts. Both of them can induce the orbital motion of microparticles suspended within the field of a light beam, and this…
Recent developments in the understanding of optical angular momentum have resulted in many demonstrations of unusual optical phenomena, such as optical beams with orbital angular momentum and transverse spinning light. Here we detail novel…
A ray-optics model is proposed to describe the vector beam transformation in a strongly focusing optical system. In contrast to usual approaches basing on the focused field distribution near the focal plane, we employ the transformed beam…
Traditionally, the angular momentum of light is calculated for "bullet-like" electromagnetic wave packets, although in actual optical experiments "pencil-like" beams of light are more commonly used. The fact that a wave packet is bounded…
Spin-orbit interactions in optics traditionally describe an influence of the polarization degree of freedom of light on its spatial properties. The most prominent example is the generation of a spin-dependent optical vortex upon focusing or…
We show that propagating optical fields bearing an axial symmetry are not truly hollow in spite of a null electric field on-axis. The result, obtained by general arguments based upon the vectorial nature of electromagnetic fields, is of…
It is shown that the momentum density of free electromagnetic field splits into two parts. One has no contribution to the net momentum due to the transversality condition. The other yields all the momentum. The angular momentum that is…
A novel deflection effect of an intense laser beam with spin angular momentum is revealed theoretically by an analytical modeling using radiation pressure and momentum balance of laser plasma interaction in the relativistic regime, as a…
Traditional superoscillation focusing typically requires complex optimization of the incident light field. These complexities may limit the practical application of superoscillation. High-order radially polarized Laguerre-Gaussian beams…
We derive expressions for the energy, linear momentum, and angular momentum content of circularly polarized Laguerre-Gaussian wave-packets propagating in free space. The vectorial nature of the electromagnetic field is taken into account,…
While photons travel in a straight line at constant velocity in free-space, the intensity profile of structured light may be tailored for acceleration in any degree of freedom. Here we propose a simple approach to control the angular…
Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beams reflected from a multi-layered dielectric experience a shift in their centroid that is different than that from a single interface. This has been previously investigated for linearly polarized beams and, to a…
Fundamental and applied concepts concerning the ability of light beams to carry a certain mechanical angular momentum with respect to the propagation axis are reviewed and discussed. Following issues are included: Historical reference;…
Spin and orbital angular momentum of an optical beam are two independent parameters that exhibit distinct effects on mechanical objects. However, when laser beams with angular momentum interact with plasmas, one can observe the interplay…
Light beams carrying orbital angular momentum, such as Laguerre-Gaussian beams, give rise to the violation of the standard dipolar selection rules during the interaction with matter yielding, in general, an exchange of angular momentum…
Excited state angular momentum alignment -- orientation conversion for atoms with hyperfine structure in presence of an external magnetic field is investigated. Transversal orientation in these conditions is reported for the first time.…
We provide a vivid demonstration of the mechanical effect of transverse spin momentum in an optical beam in free space. This component of the Poynting momentum was previously thought to be virtual, and unmeasurable. Here, its effect is…
We present a solution to the problem of reflection/refraction of a polarized Gaussian beam on the interface between two transparent media. The transverse shifts of the beams' centers of gravity are calculated. They always satisfy the total…