Tunable orbital angular momentum in high-harmonic generation

Using a two-color wave-mixing setup, we generate extreme-ultraviolet optical vortices with femtosecond duration carrying a controllable amount of orbital angular momentum (OAM). Such vortex beams will allow testing some of the recently proposed concepts such as OAM-induced dichroism, magnetic switching in organic molecules and violation of dipolar selection rules in atoms.  D. Gauthier et al.,dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14971


Optical vortices are currently one of the most intensively studied topics in optics. These light beams, which carry orbital angular momentum (OAM), have been successfully utilized in the visible and infrared in a wide variety of applications. Moving to shorter wavelengths may open up completely new research directions in the areas of optical physics and material characterization. Here, we report on the generation of extreme-ultraviolet optical vortices with femtosecond duration carrying a controllable amount of OAM.

From a basic physics viewpoint, our results help to resolve key questions such as the conservation of angular momentum in highly nonlinear light–matter interactions, and the disentanglement and independent control of the intrinsic and extrinsic components of the photon’s angular momentum at short-wavelengths. The methods developed here will allow testing some of the recently proposed concepts such as OAM-induced dichroism, magnetic switching in organic molecules and violation of dipolar selection rules in atoms.

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Tunable orbital angular momentum in high-harmonic generation, D. Gauthier et al., dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14971
 
 
Ultima modifica il Venerdì, 23 Giugno 2017 14:30