There are many ways to spin a photon : half-quantization of a total optical angular momentum
Date
29/04/2016Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The angular momentum of light plays an important role in many areas, from optical trapping to quantum information. In the usual three-dimensional setting, the angular momentum quantum numbers of the photon are integers, in units of the Planck constant ħ. We show that, in reduced dimensions, photons can have a half-integer total angular momentum. We identify a new form of total angular momentum, carried by beams of light, comprising an unequal mixture of spin and orbital contributions. We demonstrate the half-integer quantization of this total angular momentum using noise measurements. We conclude that for light, as is known for electrons, reduced dimensionality allows new forms of quantization.
Citation
Ballantine , K E , Donegan , J F & Eastham , P R 2016 , ' There are many ways to spin a photon : half-quantization of a total optical angular momentum ' , Science Advances , vol. 2 , no. 4 , e1501748 . https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1501748
Publication
Science Advances
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
2375-2548Type
Journal article
Description
This work was supported by the Higher Education Authority of Ireland under PRTLI (Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions) funding cycle 5 and by Science Foundation Ireland (09/SIRG/I1592, 12/RC/2278).Collections
Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.