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Experiments with twisted light

Some of the mechanical and quantum-mechanical properties of optical vortices

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Abstract.

The generic – that is, stable under perturbations – nodes of the field in a monochromatic light beam are optical vortices. We describe here their connection to Chladni's nodal lines in the oscillations of metal plates, as well as a few experiments that have been performed with optical vortices. We will describe how optical vortices can be generated experimentally; how it can be shown that they possess orbital angular momentum; how individual photons can be sorted according to their vortex state; and how optical vortices can be used to demonstrate higher-dimensional quantum entanglement.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland, UK

    J. Courtial & K. O'Holleran

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  1. J. Courtial
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  2. K. O'Holleran
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Courtial, J., O'Holleran, K. Experiments with twisted light. Eur. Phys. J. Spec. Top. 145, 35–47 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2007-00146-3

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