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18 March 2020 Twisted mass transport enabled by the angular momentum of light
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Abstract

Light may carry both orbital angular momentum (AM) and spin AM. The former is a consequence of its helical wavefront, and the latter is a result of its rotating transverse electric field. Intriguingly, the light–matter interaction with such fields shows that the orbital AM of light causes a physical “twist” in a range of materials, including metal, silicon, azopolymer, and even liquid-phase resin. This process may be aided by the light’s spin AM, resulting in the formation of various helical structures. The exchange between the AM of light and matter offers not only unique helical structures at the nanoscale but also entirely novel fundamental phenomena with regard to the light–matter interaction. This will lead to the future development of advanced photonics devices, including metamaterials for highly sensitive detectors as well as reactions for chiral chemical composites. Here, we focus on interactions between the AM of light and azopolymers, which exhibit some of the most diverse structures and phenomena observed. These studies result in helical surface relief structures in azopolymers and will leverage next-generation applications with light fields carrying optical AM.

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.
Takashige Omatsu, Keigo Masuda, Katsuhiko Miyamoto, Kohei Toyoda, Natalia M. Litchinitser, Yoshihiko Arita, and Kishan Dholakia "Twisted mass transport enabled by the angular momentum of light," Journal of Nanophotonics 14(1), 010901 (18 March 2020). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JNP.14.010901
Received: 1 November 2019; Accepted: 25 February 2020; Published: 18 March 2020
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CITATIONS
Cited by 16 scholarly publications.
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KEYWORDS
Amplitude modulation

Optical vortices

Polarization

Near field optics

Near field

Gaussian beams

Gold

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