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Off-axis retrieval of orbital angular momentum of light stored in cold atoms

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Abstract

We report on the storage of orbital angular momentum (OAM) of light of a Laguerre–Gaussian mode in an ensemble of cold cesium atoms and its retrieval along an axis different from the incident light beam. We employed a time-delayed four-wave mixing (FWM) configuration to demonstrate that at small angle (2°), after storage, the retrieved beam carries the same OAM as the one encoded in the input beam. A calculation based on mode decomposition of the retrieved beam over the Laguerre–Gaussian basis is in agreement with the experimental observations done at small angle values. However, the calculation shows that the OAM retrieving would get lost at larger angles, reducing the fidelity of such storing-retrieving process. In addition, we have also observed that by applying an external magnetic field to the atomic ensemble the retrieved OAM presents Larmor oscillations, demonstrating the possibility of its manipulation and off-axis retrieval.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge S. S. Vianna and A. A. Monteiro for helping us with the SLM and for computational assistance. This work was supported by the Brazilian agencies CNPq, FACEPE, INCT/CNP. We also thank CAPES-COFECUB (Ph 740-12) for the support of Brazil–France cooperation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, 50670-901, Brazil

    R. A. de Oliveira, P. S. Barbosa, W. S. Martins, S. Barreiro, D. Felinto & J. W. R. Tabosa

  2. Laboratoire Aimé Cotton, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, ENS Cachan, 91405, Orsay, France

    L. Pruvost

  3. Laboratoire de Physique des Lasers, CNRS, Université Paris 13-Sorbonne Paris Cité, 93430, Villetaneuse, France

    D. Bloch

  4. Unidade Acadêmica do Cabo de Santo Agostinho, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, BR 101 SUL, Km 97-S/N, Cabo de Santo Agostinho, PE, Brazil

    R. A. de Oliveira

  5. Instituto de Fsica, Facultad de Ingeniera, Universidad de la Repblica, J. Herrera y Reissig 565, Montevideo, 11300, Uruguay

    S. Barreiro

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  1. R. A. de Oliveira
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  2. L. Pruvost
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  3. P. S. Barbosa
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  4. W. S. Martins
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  5. S. Barreiro
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  6. D. Felinto
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  7. D. Bloch
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  8. J. W. R. Tabosa
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Correspondence to J. W. R. Tabosa.

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de Oliveira, R.A., Pruvost, L., Barbosa, P.S. et al. Off-axis retrieval of orbital angular momentum of light stored in cold atoms. Appl. Phys. B 117, 1123–1128 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-014-5934-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-014-5934-7

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