Efficient materials for spin-to-orbit angular momentum conversion using bending technique

Abstract

Abstract. We analyze the efficiency of different materials used for spin-to-orbit angular momentum conversion by applying bending to parallelepiped-shaped bars made of crystals or glasses. It is found that generation of pure screw dislocations of the light wave front with the bending technique is possible only in isotropic materials and crystals belonging to hexagonal and trigonal symmetries, with exception of crystals of the point symmetry groups 3, 3 , 6, 6 and 6/m. We demonstrate that lexan is the most efficient material for generating optical vortex beams that bear orbital angular momentum, using the bending technique. This material reveals the highest figure of merit,