Orbital-angular-momentum transfer to optically levitated microparticles in vacuum
Abstract
We demonstrate the transfer of orbital angular momentum to an optically levitated microparticle in vacuum. The microparticle is placed within a Laguerre-Gaussian beam and orbits the annular beam profile with increasing angular velocity as the air drag coefficient is reduced. We explore the particle dynamics as a function of the topological charge of the levitating beam. Our results reveal that there is a fundamental limit to the orbital angular momentum that may be transferred to a trapped particle, dependent upon the beam parameters and inertial forces present.
Citation
Mazilu , M , Arita , Y , Vettenburg , T , Aunon-Garcia , J M , Wright , E M & Dholakia , K 2016 , ' Orbital-angular-momentum transfer to optically levitated microparticles in vacuum ' , Physical Review. A, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics , vol. 94 , no. 5 , 053821 . https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.94.053821
Publication
Physical Review. A, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1050-2947Type
Journal article
Collections
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