The law of angular momentum conservation is naturally linked to the rotational symmetry of the involved system. Here we demonstrate theoretically how to break the rotational symmetry of a uniaxial crystal via the electro-optic Pockels effect. By numerical method based on asymptotic expansion, we discover the 3D structure of polarization singularities in terms of C lines and L surfaces embedded in the emerging light. We visualize the controllable dynamics evolution of polarization singularities when undergoing the Pockels effect, which behaves just like the binary fission of a prokaryotic cell, i.e., the splitting of C points and fission of L lines are animated in analogy with the cleavage of nucleus and division of cytoplasm. We reveal the connection of polarization singularity dynamics with the accompanying generation of orbital angular momentum sidebands. It is unexpected that although the total angular momentum of light is not conserved, the total topological index of C points is conserved.
We build a modified Mach-Zehnder (M-Z) interferometer with an embedded Dove prism in one arm to observe the interference between two conjugate orbital angular momentum (OAM) beams. By inserting and moving an optical wedge vertically in the other arm, we find that its linear motion can induce a rotational frequency shift equivalently, as a consequence of phase transfer from the path difference to the azimuthal difference between two OAM beams. The micron-scale movement of the wedge is driven by a compact motorized translation stage and is manifested by a significant rotation of the interference petal-like patterns. Our scheme offers an accurate method to measure the optical wedge angle with a simple method of digital image processing. This work may also find potential applications in the field of velocity sensing or temperature sensing.
We present both numerical and experimental results to study the diffraction of twisted light beams based on orbital angular momentum (OAM) eigenmode decomposition, where the total initial field, including light and aperture, is represented by a two-dimensional spectrum of Laguerre-Gaussian modes. We use a phase-only spatial light modulator to display a holographic grating for both generating the twisted light and mimicking the finite aperture. We take a triangular aperture as an example to describe the diffraction behavior of a twisted light beam carrying an OAM number of l ¼ 3 from the near-field to far-field regions, where the interesting gradual formation of triangular bright lattices are observed. An excellent agreement between the numerical simulations and experimental observations is clearly seen. It is noted that this method is particularly useful for the study of the diffraction of twisted light fields incident on any apertures of rotational symmetry.
We report controllable azimuthons of four-wave mixing (FWM), which can be modulated by several parameters in experiment. The spot number, splitting depth, rotation angular velocity and direction of such azimuthons can be controlled by the frequency and intensity of the FWM signal or the dressing field through the cross-phase modulation due to atomic coherence. The intensity gain of the azimuthons can be modulated by frequency detuning through quantum parametric amplification. The quantum correlated FWM vortex is observed in experiment. We also discuss the applications of such controllable azimuthons in all-optical circulators, multiplexers (demultiplexers), routers, cross-connects and optical amplifiers.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.