Dynamic spatiotemporal beams that combine two independent and controllable orbital-angular-momenta using multiple optical-frequency-comb lines

Zhe Zhao*, Hao Song, Runzhou Zhang, Kai Pang, Cong Liu, Haoqian Song, Ahmed Almaiman, Karapet Manukyan, Huibin Zhou, Brittany Lynn, Robert W. Boyd, Moshe Tur, Alan E. Willner*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Novel forms of beam generation and propagation based on orbital angular momentum (OAM) have recently gained significant interest. In terms of changes in time, OAM can be manifest at a given distance in different forms, including: (1) a Gaussian-like beam dot that revolves around a central axis, and (2) a Laguerre-Gaussian (LG,p) beam with a helical phasefront rotating around its own beam center. Here we explore the generation of dynamic spatiotemporal beams that combine these two forms of orbital-angular-momenta by coherently adding multiple frequency comb lines. Each line carries a superposition of multiple LG,p modes such that each line is composed of a different ℓ value and multiple p values. We simulate the generated beams and find that the following can be achieved: (a) mode purity up to 99%, and (b) control of the helical phasefront from 2π-6π and the revolving speed from 0.2–0.6 THz. This approach might be useful for generating spatiotemporal beams with even more sophisticated dynamic properties.

Original languageEnglish
Article number4099
JournalNature Communications
Volume11
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2020

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