Manipulating the Orbital Angular Momentum of Light at the Micron Scale with Nematic Disclinations in a Liquid Crystal Film
Authors:
- Ulysse DelabreUDUlysse Delabre
- Etienne BrasseletEBEtienne Brasselet
- 16 July 2013
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Letters
- Vol. 111 (3) , 037802
Abstract
We report on the experimental manipulation of the orbital angular momentum of light by exploiting a kind of topological defects that spontaneously appear in nematics\char22{}disclinations\char22{}as microscopic optical spin-orbit interfaces whose operating wavelength can be controlled electrically. Using six different kinds of disclinations, we demonstrate the efficient generation of both scalar and vectorial singular light beams with a broad topological diversity from a fundamental Gaussian beam.Keywords
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