Abstract
Laser light with a Laguerre-Gaussian amplitude distribution is found to have a well-defined orbital angular momentum. An astigmatic optical system may be used to transform a high-order Laguerre-Gaussian mode into a high-order Hermite-Gaussian mode reversibly. An experiment is proposed to measure the mechanical torque induced by the transfer of orbital angular momentum associated with such a transformation.
- Received 6 January 1992
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.45.8185
©1992 American Physical Society
Collections
This article appears in the following collection:
Physical Review A 50th Anniversary Milestones
The collection contains papers that have made important contributions to atomic, molecular, and optical physics and quantum information by announcing significant discoveries or by initiating new areas of research.
Feature
50 Years of Physical Review A: The Legacy of Three Classics
Published 2 March 2020
Physicists working in optics, atomic and molecular physics, and quantum information reflect on landmark papers and how they influence research today.
See more in Physics